Water filter service in Camden, NJ

What is in the water in Camden

Camden is served by City of Camden water system, operated by American Water Contract Services .

Source water: Groundwater from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer drawn through city wellfields, supplemented by a ten year bulk water purchase agreement. That reliance on bought-in water is a direct consequence of losing a wellfield to contamination. New Jersey American Water separately serves the Cramer Hill and East Camden sections, so which utility you deal with in Camden depends on where in the city you live. Reported by City of Camden for 2024.

Camden has been through two phases of treatment upgrades. The second, beginning in late 2022 and running about two years, added treatment for PFAS and 1,4-dioxane at the Morris and Delair wellfields, and for 1,4-dioxane at the Parkside plant. The city also sharply reduced use of its Parkside wells and took several Morris and Delair wells out of service. American Water Contract Services has been the contract operator for the city water and wastewater system since 2016.

These figures describe the distribution system. Your own tap can differ, and for lead it very likely does.

We do not yet hold a sourced figure for every field on this page. Where something is missing it is left blank rather than estimated, because an unsourced number here would look like information.

Buildings and plumbing in Camden

Camden sits under a hard legal deadline rather than a voluntary programme. A New Jersey law passed in July 2021 requires every community water system in the state to identify all lead service lines, notify the public, and replace them by 2031. Galvanised lines count as lead lines under that law, which catches a lot of properties owners assume are fine. Because the city is split between two providers, which programme applies to you depends on your address. New Jersey American Water began its replacement work in its Camden service areas in February 2024, starting with inspection and identification of line materials, and had replaced roughly 10,000 customer-owned lead and galvanised lines across New Jersey by September 2024. The city-run system files yearly inventory updates with the state environmental department and works with the federal Lead Service Line Replacement Accelerators programme.

PFAS in Camden

Camden is the clearest case in this region of source water contamination rather than pipe contamination. The Puchack Well Field in Pennsauken Township, six public supply wells screened in the lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer, was contaminated from the early 1970s with trichloroethylene, 1,2-dichloroethane, tetrachloroethylene and chromium compounds. Hexavalent chromium reached concentrations as high as 1.0 milligram per litre. Five of the six wells were taken out of service between 1975 and 1988 and the last was withdrawn in May 1998. The site was added to the federal National Priorities List on 6 March 1998, and the former Puchack plant is no longer in service. Recent treatment work targets PFAS and 1,4-dioxane at the remaining wellfields.

Source: US Environmental Protection Agency, 2024. More on confirming and treating this on our PFAS page.

What this means in practice

• Chlorine and chloramine taste. Confirm with free and total chlorine test strip, plus the utility report for the disinfectant type.
• Lead in drinking water. Confirm with certified laboratory analysis of a first-draw tap sample.
• PFAS. Confirm with certified laboratory analysis using an epa-approved pfas method.

What these figures mean for filter choice

Lead is a plumbing question rather than a supply question in Camden, as it is everywhere. What that means practically is that a filter certified under NSF/ANSI 53 for lead at the tap you drink from sits downstream of the entire problem, whereas a whole-house filter at the point of entry sits upstream of nearly all of it and costs several times more.

Filters that apply here

• Lead reduction filters. Point-of-use filters certified for lead under NSF/ANSI 53.
• PFAS reduction systems. Reverse osmosis or a certified activated carbon system aimed at per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
• Under-sink carbon filters. A carbon block cartridge on the cold line under the sink.
• Reverse osmosis, tank. A membrane system under the sink that produces treated water to a dedicated tap and stores it in a small pressure tank.
• Whole-house filtration. A filter plumbed into the main line where water enters the building, so every tap, shower, and appliance downstream is fed treated water.

Installation in Camden

• Free water testing. Typically 45 to 60 minutes.
• Whole-house filter installation. Typically 3 to 5 hours.
• Under-sink reverse osmosis installation. Typically 2 to 4 hours.
• Repair, any brand. Typically 1 to 3 hours.

Renters, co-ops, and businesses

• Options for renters
• Co-ops and condos
• Offices and commercial sites

Nearby areas

• Cherry Hill, NJ , Camden County
• Gloucester, NJ , Camden County
• Trenton, NJ , Mercer County
• Vineland, NJ , Cumberland County

Sources

• City of Camden, 2024.
• City of Camden, 2024.
• New Jersey American Water, 2024.
• US Environmental Protection Agency, 2024.
• Population: US Census Bureau sub-county population estimates, Vintage 2024 (POPESTIMATE2024).