South River W Dept, NJ
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2026-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Who runs the water here
South River W Dept serves about 16,000 people through 4,245 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Middlesex County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ1223001; phone on file: 732-257-1999. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2025 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for South River W Dept is 5.53 ppb across 15 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 2.54 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.09 ppb |
| 2023 | 5.53 ppb |
| 2022 | 4 ppb |
| 2022 | 5.52 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.52 ppb |
| 2021 | 3.1 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 1.79 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.66 ppb |
Against other New Jersey systems
Of the 605 New Jersey systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 5 are over 15 ppb right now and 52 have gone over at some point. South River W Dept's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 35th percentile in New Jersey and the 38th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
13 other systems share Middlesex County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than South River W Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Middlesex Water Company | 233,376 | 0.85 ppb |
| Old Bridge Mua | 68,000 | 1.75 ppb |
| New Brunswick W Dept | 55,000 | 1.78 ppb |
| Perth Amboy Water Department | 52,328 | 0 (not detected) |
| East Brunswick Water Utility | 49,715 | 0.4 ppb |
| Sayreville W Dept | 45,345 | 0.54 ppb |
| North Brunswick W Dept | 43,905 | 2.4 ppb |
| Monroe Twp Utility Department | 36,000 | 1.34 ppb |
| Edison Water Co | 35,000 | 1.18 ppb |
| Highland Park W Dept | 14,000 | 0.63 ppb |
What to do in your house
Look up your address in South River W Dept's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask South River W Dept whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1830 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.