Public Drinking Water Data for New Castle County

The arsenic test results shown on this page have been carefully checked and confirmed to be accurate. Some Delaware water systems naturally have higher arsenic levels in their source water. These systems use treatment to remove arsenic so that the water delivered to consumers meets federal and state safety standards.

Overview

Public drinking water in Delaware is carefully regulated to help ensure the health and safety of the communities it serves. Public water systems that supply at least 25 people are required to meet federal and state water quality standards. These systems conduct regular testing and apply treatment processes to remove harmful germs and chemicals. While most public tap water meets safety standards, contamination can sometimes occur. When this happens, utilities are required to notify customers and provide guidance on how to stay safe. As a resident, you can take simple steps to stay informed about your water quality—review your utility's annual water quality report, sign up for alerts from your local government or utility, and follow recommendations during drinking water advisories.

Data presented below combine public water supplies for the selected geographic region, and only a selection are listed. Major water providers for Delaware include Artesian Water Company, City Of Wilmington, Suez Water Delaware and, Tidewater Utilities.

Photo credit:Daniel Hopper

Key Data & Reports

Public Drinking Water in New Castle County

Community water systems regularly test public drinking water for a wide range of contaminants to ensure it meets safety standards. These tests check for substances that can affect health. Monitoring helps protect communities and ensures the water delivered to homes, schools, and businesses is safe to drink.

The maximum allowable contaminant level (MCL) is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water based on cost benefit analysis and is enforceable under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Select Contaminants

Investigate Over Time

Public Drinking Water in New Castle County

Data is currently not available for this selection.

Please note: Counts of less than 11 are suppressed. If the population is sufficiently large, 0 counts may be shown. Rates based on counts less than 20 may be unstable.

Additional Information

Public Drinking Water in New Castle County

Resources

Delaware Office of Drinking Water: Consumer Information

Includes annual compliance reports.

EPA: Your Drinking Water -- What you need to know

Listing of EPA resources to learn about the safety of our drinking water.

Drinking Water Regulations

An EPA chart that lists all regulated drinking water contaminants and acceptable levels for each.

EPA: Concerned about lead in your drinking water?

Infographic [pdf] about sources of lead at home.

What are PFAS?

Learn more about this group of human-made chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many other chemicals.

How does agriculture impact nitrate levels in drinking water?

University of Delaware Cooperative Extension’s website on nitrogen cycling in agriculture.

Delaware Public Health Laboratory

The State's Environmental Laboratory site includes forms and procedures for water testing but also explanations of bacterial and chemistry testing conducted at the lab.

Drinking Water Watch

Delaware's data about each public water supply.

Delaware Department of Public Health: Drinking Water Notices

Listing of this year's drinking water notices.

Data Sources

Public Water Quality Data

Citation: Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) Federal Reporting Services. https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/safe-drinking-water-information-system-sdwis-federal-reporting

View or download this dataset

Privacy

In releasing this information, Delaware aims to provide information that can be helpful to local communities as they work to improve public health. However, the protection of the confidentiality of our citizens is of paramount importance. To that end, counts of less than 11 are not presented. An outside expert has reviewed the platform to ensure it complies with the HIPAA privacy rule (45 CFR 164.§514(b)).