West Cape May Water Dept, NJ
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.39 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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.
Who runs the water here
West Cape May Water Dept serves about 4,427 people through 795 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Cape May County, New Jersey. EPA system ID: NJ0512001; phone on file: 609-884-1005. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
West Cape May Water Dept's lead record
Against the period ending 2023 (2.54 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for West Cape May Water Dept is 10.3 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.39 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.54 ppb |
| 2020 | 2.8 ppb |
| 2017 | 10.3 ppb over 10 |
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. West Cape May Water Dept's 2.39 ppb sits at the 72nd percentile in New Jersey and the 76th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
23 other systems share Cape May County; 7 of them have a higher latest lead result than West Cape May Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Wildwood City Water Department | 218,472 | 5.8 ppb |
| Nj American Water - Ocean City | 127,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Avalon Water And Sewerage Utilities | 39,839 | 1.17 ppb |
| Cape May Water & Sewer U | 35,000 | 2.46 ppb |
| Stone Harbor Water Dept | 30,850 | 3.03 ppb |
| Sea Isle City Water Department | 15,800 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lower Twp Mua | 12,416 | 5.1 ppb |
| Nj American Water - Cape May Court House | 5,625 | 1 ppb |
| Cape May Point Boro Wate | 4,000 | 4.4 ppb |
| Borough Of Woodbine | 2,650 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; West Cape May, NJ 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 West Cape May Water Dept 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.