Your county health department
New Jersey doesn't run a statewide free testing program that we know of. Some county health departments test wells or sell kits, so call yours first.
New Jersey's private well pageLead in New Jersey well water, by county
Lead is worth checking in 1 of the 14 New Jersey counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. A county's share tells you how likely a problem is nearby. Only a test of your own well tells you what's in it.
These tests sample the groundwater, and lead rarely comes from the ground. In a home it mostly comes from plumbing: old solder, brass fittings and some older pumps. So a county's share can't tell you about your pipes. Test a first-draw sample, water that sat in the pipes overnight, from the tap you drink from.
How New Jersey compares with the rest of the country
Across New Jersey, under 1 in 50 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (6 of 417). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. New Jersey is about average, so the county you live in tells you more than the state does.
Why it matters: It harms children's growing brains. The CDC says no amount in a child's blood is known to be safe.
Lead in tested wells, county by county
Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L. Counties need 10 or more tested wells to be listed. Widespread means 15% or more, worth checking 5 to 15%, rare under 5%.
| County | Wells tested | Wells over the limit | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic County | 28 | Worth checking | |
| Cumberland County | 27 | Rare | |
| Gloucester County | 65 | Rare | |
| Camden County | 44 | Rare | |
| Burlington County | 42 | Rare | |
| Middlesex County | 35 | Rare | |
| Monmouth County | 26 | Rare | |
| Ocean County | 25 | Rare | |
| Mercer County | 23 | Rare | |
| Salem County | 16 | Rare | |
| Warren County | 16 | Rare | |
| Sussex County | 14 | Rare | |
| Hunterdon County | 12 | Rare | |
| Morris County | 11 | Rare |
7 more New Jersey counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for lead, too few to rate.
Download this table (CSV) · Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0
Where to get your well tested for lead in New Jersey
A lab New Jersey certifies
Ask for lead by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by New JerseyA mail-in kit
Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include lead.
Compare kitsKeep reading about wells in New Jersey
- Well water testing in New Jersey: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
- Lead in well water: where it comes from, what it does and how to remove it
- Nitrate in New Jersey wells, by county
- Arsenic in New Jersey wells, by county
- Uranium in New Jersey wells, by county
- Manganese in New Jersey wells, by county
- Radon in New Jersey wells, by county
Questions people ask about lead in New Jersey
Is there lead in New Jersey well water?
Lead is worth checking in 1 of the 14 New Jersey counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. Across New Jersey, under 1 in 50 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (6 of 417). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. New Jersey is about average, so the county you live in tells you more than the state does.
Where can I get my well tested for lead in New Jersey?
Use a lab certified by New Jersey for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes lead from a certified lab. Some county health departments test wells too, so call yours first.
See New Jersey's list of certified labs, or compare mail-in kits.
Where these numbers come from
- Lab tests: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA), well samples since 2000. A well counts as over if any of its tests was over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L. Wells tested for studies and monitoring, not a random sample of homes.
- Likely overstated: our own check of who tested the wells, when and where. How we check.
- State programs and links: Department of Environmental Protection.