Sussex Shores Water Company, DE
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 6.9 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
Sussex Shores Water Company at a glance
Sussex Shores Water Company serves about 12,450 people through 2,286 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Sussex County, Delaware. EPA system ID: DE0000557; phone on file: 302-539-7611. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
That is up 6.9 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2022. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Sussex Shores Water Company is 6.9 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 6.9 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 1.2 ppb |
Against other Delaware systems
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. Sussex Shores Water Company's 6.9 ppb sits at the 92nd percentile in Delaware and the 94th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
96 other systems share Sussex County; 10 of them have a higher latest lead result than Sussex Shores Water Company. 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 |
| 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 |
| Bayside Pump District (Tui) | 8,400 | 2.3 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Bethany Beach, 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 Sussex Shores Water Company whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.