Stockley Center, DE
Exceeded the action level in the past
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 result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
About Stockley Center
Stockley Center serves about 749 people through 28 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by the state and draws groundwater, in Sussex County, Delaware. EPA system ID: DE0000276; phone on file: 302-453-2389. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2025 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Stockley Center is 169 ppb across 9 monitoring periods, 2 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 1 ppb |
| 2025 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2024 | 1.9 ppb |
| 2024 | 20.1 ppb over 15 |
| 2022 | 1.2 ppb |
| 2017 | 4.6 ppb |
| 2017 | 3.9 ppb |
| 2016 | 169 ppb over 15 |
Where this result ranks
Of the 196 Delaware systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.31 ppb; 1 are over 15 ppb right now and 14 have gone over at some point. Stockley Center's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 31st percentile in Delaware and the 25th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
96 other systems share Sussex County; 58 of them have a higher latest lead result than Stockley Center. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Rehoboth Pump District (Tui) | 81,417 | 0.71 ppb |
| Bethany Bay Pump District | 52,684 | 2.3 ppb |
| Dewey Beach Water Department | 31,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rehoboth Beach Water Department | 25,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Artesian Southern Sussex Regional | 20,145 | 2 ppb |
| Sussex Shores Water Company | 12,450 | 6.9 ppb |
| Bethany Beach Water Department | 12,000 | 4.9 ppb |
| Long Neck Water Company | 11,000 | 1.1 ppb |
| Lewes Board Of Public Works | 9,627 | 21.6 ppb |
| Millsboro Water Department | 8,568 | 5.2 ppb |
Next steps for Newark, DE
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Newark, DE may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Stockley Center whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 2648 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. More in what a past exceedance means today.