Well water in Waterford township, New Jersey

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Testing recommended

private wells tested between 2002 and 2024 in Waterford township had total coliform above the New Jersey limit (any detection), according to NJDEP.

The strongest signal is nitrate: 8% of 13 local samples were above the limit, too few samples to carry the headline but first on the test list below.

1,553 private wells tested 2002 to 2024 in state summaries; 92 test results across 6 contaminants from at least 13 wells, 1969 to 2001; sodium has the most at 19. Data refreshed September 9, 2026.

Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built

What homeowner tests found

NJDEP Private Well Testing Act summaries: private wells tested and reported to the state, 2002 to 2024. Shares are against the level the state applies to each contaminant, named in the last column; several are stricter than EPA.

Contaminant	Above state level	Wells tested	State level
Gross alpha	46%	1,478	15 pCi/L
Iron	22%	1,553	300 ug/L
Manganese	14%	1,553	50 ug/L
Total coliform	6%	1,548
PFOS	6%	214	13 ng/L
PFOA	5%	214	14 ng/L
PFNA	1%	214	13 ng/L
Nitrate	<1%	1,553	10 mg/L
E. coli Fecal coliform or	<1%	1,548
Arsenic	0%	513	5 ug/L

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Waterford township. Above limit means above the EPA maximum contaminant level; where EPA has no enforceable limit, the row shows a health guideline or nuisance level instead.

Contaminant	Above limit	Samples	Detected	Median	Highest	Limit
Nitrate 1978 to 2001	8%	13	69%	0.02	25.7	10 mg/L EPA limit
Lead 1978 to 1993	0%	13	38%	0	0	15 ug/L EPA limit
Sodium 1969 to 2001	no limit	19	100%	1.5	7.5	20 mg/L health guideline
Manganese 1969 to 2001	no limit	19	84%	38	80	300 ug/L health guideline
Iron 1969 to 2001	no limit	19	79%	50	3,800	300 ug/L nuisance level

Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Arsenic (9).

Closer than the town

See the sampled wells near your address

The same records, drawn around one point: which wells within a few miles were sampled and what they found, how deep the wells next to you were drilled, and any leaking tank or cleanup site within a mile.

Check my address

What this means

Among homeowners in Waterford township who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were total coliform (6% of 1,548 wells), PFOS (6% of 214 wells), and PFOA (5% of 214 wells). These are ordinary wells tested by their owners, so the shares are the best available picture of a typical well here, with one caveat: people test more often when they suspect a problem.

Iron and manganese exceed the state's advisory level in a sizable share of wells; these are mostly a taste, staining or diet issue rather than a toxicity one.

What to test for in Waterford township

1
Nitrate
8% of 13 local samples were above the limit.
2
Total coliform
6% of 1,548 local wells tested were above the New Jersey limit (any detection).
3
PFOS
6% of 214 local wells tested were above the New Jersey limit.
4
Gross alpha
46% of 1,478 local wells tested were above the New Jersey limit.
5
PFOA
5% of 214 local wells tested were above the New Jersey limit.
6
PFNA
1% of 214 local wells tested were above the New Jersey limit.
7
E. coli
<1% of 1,548 local wells tested were above the New Jersey limit (any detection).
8
Iron
22% of 1,553 local wells tested were above the New Jersey nuisance level.

Test your Waterford township well for nitrate, total coliform and PFOS

Certified lab analysis of your own tap water, bottles and prepaid return shipping included. The Essential well panel covers arsenic, uranium, nitrate, lead, copper, manganese, iron, sodium and bacteria; radon and PFAS are add-ons.

Order the Tap Score well water test kit, from $209 Already tested? Upload the report

Just want bacteria checked first? Tap Score coliform and E. coli test, $99. Coliform and E. coli are the tests every well needs every year.

Want a quick look before paying for a lab? Home well water test strips on Amazon check hardness, iron, pH and nitrate in minutes. They are a screen, not a result: arsenic, bacteria, uranium and PFAS need a certified lab.

Affiliate links: the merchant pays us a commission and the price is the same for you. It does not change what the data above says. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Where to get a well tested in New Jersey: certified labs, state programs and prices.

Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Waterford township numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.

The rock under Waterford township

Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system

Semiconsolidated sand. Coastal plain sands like these give steady yields at moderate depth. Salt water and sodium are the usual issues near the coast, and nitrate where the water table is shallow; arsenic and radon from bedrock are less common.

Classification from the USGS Principal Aquifers of the United States (national map, 2003 edition, GIS release 2015), read at the town centroid. A single well can sit in a different unit, especially near a boundary.

Official help in New Jersey

Two places to start that are not selling anything: the state program that answers private well questions, and its list of labs certified to run drinking water tests. A certified lab is the difference between a result you can act on and a number.

Private Wells, NJDEP
Certified Laboratories, NJDEP

Contamination sources on record in Waterford township

NJDEP records 65 regulated sites in Waterford township, among 65 regulated sites in total. Groundwater does not follow property lines, so a well within a few hundred feet of one of these is worth testing for what that site could release.

50: registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
1: lined landfill or transfer facility
14: other remediation projects

Treatment that fits the local profile

Total coliform

Inspect and repair the well cap and casing, then shock chlorinate and retest; UV disinfection whole-house; Chlorination system

PFOS

Granular activated carbon whole-house; Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange

Gross alpha

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Water softener (cation exchange) for radium; Anion exchange for uranium

Iron

Oxidizing filter whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Aeration plus filtration

Manganese

Oxidizing filter (greensand, birm) whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Point-of-use reverse osmosis

Nitrate

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange; Distillation

Systems we would look at first

Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, the merchant pays us a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change which products we list or what the data says.

For total coliform

Aquasana Rhino Well Water with UV

whole-house, at the point of entry, about $2,871

Whole-house system built for wells: sediment pre-filter, KDF and carbon, and a UV lamp rated to kill 99.99% of bacteria and viruses. It does not remove arsenic, nitrate, uranium or radon.

For PFOS

Under-sink reverse osmosis system

under-sink or countertop, about $300

Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.

For PFOS

Whole-house PFAS carbon system

whole-house, at the point of entry, about $3,000

Granular activated carbon certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for PFOA and PFOS; replace media on schedule.

For PFOS

Aquasana SmartFlow reverse osmosis

under-sink or countertop, about $225

Certified to NSF/ANSI 58 and 53 to reduce arsenic (96%, pentavalent), fluoride (90%), lead (99%), nitrate, nitrite and PFOA/PFOS at the kitchen tap, with a remineralizer.

For iron

Iron and manganese oxidizing filter

whole-house, at the point of entry, about $1,800

Air-injection or greensand media; fixes staining at the source.

Free, no obligation

Get on the list for a free in-home water test in Waterford township

No water treatment company serves Waterford township through Well Water Nerd yet. We are signing licensed companies on county by county: they test at your tap for free, walk you through the numbers, and quote treatment only if something needs fixing. Leave your details and you are first in line. Nothing is shared until a company joins for Waterford township, and you get an email naming it first.

Common questions

How often should I test a private well in Waterford township?

Test for bacteria and nitrate every year. Test once for arsenic, uranium, radon, fluoride, manganese and PFAS, then again every three to five years or after any change in taste, color, or plumbing.

Towns near Waterford township

Closest first. Groundwater does not stop at a line on a map, so the next town over is a fair second opinion.

Want the numbers themselves? Download the New Jersey dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.

Sources

USGS Water Quality Portal: 92 samples in Waterford township. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
NJDEP Private Well Testing Act summaries: summaries for 10 contaminants in Waterford township, up to 1,553 wells each. Share of private wells exceeding each standard in tests required at sale or lease under the New Jersey Private Well Testing Act, September 2002 to December 2024, published by NJDEP. Tests are untreated water at the time of sale or lease, so every well is counted once per transaction. Municipalities with fewer than ten wells are suppressed. Standards are New Jersey's: arsenic 5 ug/L, PFOA 14 ng/L, PFOS 13 ng/L, PFNA 13 ng/L, manganese and iron secondary standards. Uranium and PFAS were added to the required panel in 2021 and 2020, so their well counts are smaller. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
NJDEP regulated sites: 65 regulated sites located in Waterford township. Known Contaminated Sites, regulated underground storage tank facilities and solid waste landfills from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ-GeoWeb). Retrieved September 9, 2026.

Non-detects count as samples and are treated as zero when computing medians. Exactly at the limit counts as not above it. A sample belongs to the town containing the well's reported coordinates.