Water filter service in New Jersey

New Jersey regulates private wells more tightly than almost anywhere

Most states leave private well owners entirely alone. New Jersey does not, and if you are buying or selling a property on a well here, that difference is about to matter to you.

The Private Well Testing Act took effect on 14 September 2002. It requires that any property drawing drinking water from a private well be tested before the sale of that property closes, including new construction. The untreated groundwater is tested for up to 43 parameters, and both the buyer and the seller must attest that they have reviewed the results before title changes hands.

Landlords are covered too. A rental property on a well must be tested every five years, and each tenant must be given a copy of the results.

Certified laboratories submit results directly to the Department of Environmental Protection, which forwards them to the local health authority. Where a result exceeds a drinking water standard, the county health department is notified. Failure to test can bring enforcement action.

A well used only for irrigation or other non-drinking purposes is outside the Act.

The strictest PFAS limits in the country

New Jersey set enforceable PFAS standards before the federal government did, and its numbers remain among the lowest anywhere. The maximum contaminant level is 14 parts per trillion for PFOA, 13 for PFOS, and 13 for PFNA.

Compliance is judged on a running annual average of the four most recent quarters rather than on any single sample, so one elevated result is not automatically a violation and one clean result is not automatically reassurance.

The same rulemaking added PFOA, PFOS, and PFNA to the Private Well Testing Act panel, which means a private well being tested for a property sale is now checked for them as well. That pushed the typical cost of a Private Well Testing Act panel from roughly 650 to 750 dollars up to around 1,000 dollars with PFAS included.

For homeowners whose water exceeds a state primary standard, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency runs a Potable Water Loan Program, and systems affected by a PFAS discharge may be eligible for Spill Compensation Fund claims.

What this means in practice

On a public supply, New Jersey's low PFAS standards mean utilities here have been treating for these compounds for longer than most. Several have built granular activated carbon plants specifically for it. That is a reason to read your utility's current report rather than assuming a historical detection is still a live problem.

On a well, you will probably have a recent and unusually thorough test already, because the Act required one when you bought the property. Find it. It is the single most useful document for specifying treatment, and it covers parameters most voluntary panels skip.

If that test is more than a few years old, retest. The Act covers the moment of sale, not the years you live there, and the water changes.

Who regulates drinking water in New Jersey

Public water systems in New Jersey are regulated under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, administered by the state, and every community system must publish an annual Consumer Confidence Report describing what it found in the previous calendar year. Those reports are normally published by July 1.

Private wells sit outside that framework entirely. No agency samples them and no report is issued, so a well owner in New Jersey is the only person who will ever test that water.

Licensing in New Jersey

Registered with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. Registration number available on request.

Every area we cover in New Jersey

Grouped by county. Smaller towns are served through the nearest listed area, so if yours is not here, use the closest one or send us your address.

Names shown as links have a local page with sourced water data for that town. The rest are areas we serve where the research is not yet published, so there is nothing local to read yet. Either way, send us your address.

Camden County

Cumberland County

Essex County

Hudson County

Mercer County

Middlesex County

Monmouth County

Morris County

Ocean County

Passaic County

Somerset County

Union County

What we do across the state

• 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.

• Whole-house filtration
• Water softeners
• Salt-free conditioners
• Reverse osmosis, tank
• Reverse osmosis, tankless
• Under-sink carbon filters

Sources

• Private Well Testing Act. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2025.
• PFAS Standards and Regulations. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2024.
• PFAS in Drinking Water. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2024.