49 cities covered
Delaware water quality, by city
Delaware cities of 10,000+
| City | Disinfectant | Hardness | Lead | PFAS | Radon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington | Chlorine | No data | Not detected | PFOA | Moderate |
| Dover | Chlorine | 3.8 gpg | 2 ppb | Not detected | Low |
| Newark | Chlorine | 4.0 gpg | 1 ppb | PFOA, PFOS | Moderate |
| Middletown | Chlorine | No data | Not detected | Not detected | Moderate |
| Milford | Chlorine | No data | Not detected | Not detected | Low |
| Smyrna | Chlorine | No data | Not detected | PFOA, PFOS | Low |
Smaller Delaware towns
43 more covered towns, each with its own page.
- Arden
- Ardencroft
- Ardentown
- Bellefonte
- Bethany Beach
- Blades
- Bowers
- Bridgeville
- Camden
- Cheswold
- Clayton
- Dagsboro
- Delaware City
- Delmar
- Dewey Beach
- Ellendale
- Elsmere
- Felton
- Fenwick Island
- Frankford
- Frederica
- Georgetown
- Greenwood
- Harrington
- Henlopen Acres
- Kenton
- Laurel
- Lewes
- Magnolia
- Millsboro
- Millville
- Milton
- New Castle
- Newport
- Ocean View
- Odessa
- Rehoboth Beach
- Seaford
- Selbyville
- Slaughter Beach
- South Bethany
- Townsend
- Wyoming
What the data shows across Delaware
Chlorine or chloramine
4 of 49 covered cities use chloramine in at least part of the system: Elsmere, Townsend, Bethany Beach and Odessa. Most cheap shower filters barely affect chloramine; look for vitamin C or catalytic carbon media.
Shower filters that handle chloramineHardness
0 of 14 cities with a hardness reading have hard or very hard water. Readings run from 0.5 grains per gallon in Selbyville (soft) to 5.1 in Elsmere (moderately hard).
Softener or filter?Lead
4 cities' utilities reported a 90th-percentile lead result of 5 ppb or more: Millsboro, Milton, Lewes and Dagsboro. Lead comes from service lines and plumbing, so a home test is the reading that counts.
PFAS
EPA's nationwide sampling found PFAS above a 2024 EPA limit, in at least one sample, in the water serving Wilmington, Newark, Smyrna, Georgetown, Elsmere, Lewes and 14 more.
Health-based violations
7 of 49 covered cities' utilities had a health-based EPA violation since 2016: Wilmington, Milford, Seaford, Selbyville, Frankford, South Bethany and 1 more. Each city page lists the contaminants.