New Jersey tap water / Towns / Camden County
Cherry Hill, NJ tap water quality
Cherry Hill's PFAS compliance results in 2025 were below both New Jersey and federal limits.
Cherry Hill, in Camden County, has about 79,965 residents. About 90% of them live inside the service area of New Jersey American Water's Western system, according to New Jersey DEP's service area map.
Part of Cherry Hill may get water from a different system. If your bill comes from another utility, check its report instead.
PFAS in the 2025 report Highest compliance result, NJ American Water, Western system
- PFOA2.5 pptRange in the report: not detected to 4.3 pptNJ limit 14 · Federal limit 4Below both limits
- PFOS2.45 pptRange in the report: not detected to 3.9 pptNJ limit 13 · Federal limit 4Below both limits
The same report also lists EPA's nationwide PFAS testing (UCMR 5), sampled at the point of entry in 2025: PFOA at 4.3 ppt and PFOS at 4.4 ppt. Those are separate test results, not the compliance figures above, so they don't set the status.
Charts and full results for the NJ American Water, Western system
Is Cherry Hill tap water safe?
We don't say whether Cherry Hill's tap water is safe to drink: that's a health question, for your doctor or your utility. What we show is what the utility reported next to New Jersey's and EPA's legal limits, starting with PFAS here; hardness and lead follow below.
For PFAS, the Western system's 2025 water quality report lists the highest compliance result: 2.5 ppt of PFOA and 2.45 ppt of PFOS. The report doesn't say whether that figure is a single result or a running annual average. These were below both New Jersey's limits (14 ppt for PFOA and 13 ppt for PFOS) and EPA's national limits (4 ppt each). The statewide PFAS table puts these figures next to the other water systems on this site.
Hardness and lead in Cherry Hill's water
- Hardness
- 128 mg/L7.5 grains per gallon, hardThe utility's report lists an average of 128 mg/L at the treatment plant (2025).New Jersey's recommended upper limit 250 mg/L (for taste and appearance; not enforceable); no federal limit.
- Lead, 90th percentile of home taps
- Not listed in the 2025 report
7.5 grains per gallon in Cherry Hill's report: size a water softener for Cherry Hill. See how hard the water is elsewhere in New Jersey.
Filtering Cherry Hill's tap water at home
The utility's PFAS compliance results were below the federal limits. If you still want a filter, or you're concerned about lead from your home's pipes, look for one certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for the contaminant you care about.
Where does Cherry Hill's water come from?
The Western system's 2025 report lists its own sources as one surface water intake and 42 active wells (including 5 seasonal wells); Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system, Delaware River, Mount Laurel-Wenonah aquifer, Englishtown aquifer system.
Bills, new service and account questions are handled by New Jersey American Water, which runs the Western system: customer service and billing.
Local factors in Cherry Hill
Cherry Hill's municipal boundary on aerial photos taken between July 28 and August 20, 2023. The town boundary and the water system's service area aren't always the same.
Source: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program, via USGS The National Map; boundary from NJ Office of GIS.
Age of homes
73% (margin of error ±3 percentage points) of homes in Cherry Hill were built before 1980 (Camden County: 71%, New Jersey: 63%; U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024). The utility's water quality report describes water leaving the system, not the plumbing inside a home; why the build year matters for lead.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25034 (Year Structure Built).
Lead service lines
New Jersey American Water's service line map, where you can look up your own address, lists 22,357 service lines (the pipes from the water main to each building) in Cherry Hill on October 31, 2026. 30 of them (under 1%) have lead on the utility's side, the property owner's side or both (4 only on the utility's side, 24 only on the owner's side, 2 on both), and New Jersey's 2021 lead service line law requires the utility to replace them, including the part on private property. For 8,840, the material on at least one side hasn't been identified yet (how we count service lines; all towns compared).
Source: New Jersey American Water, service line material map, lines counted inside the town boundary on October 31, 2026; New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, 2022 order quoting the 2021 lead service line law (N.J.S.A. 58:12A-40).
Radon
NJDEP places Cherry Hill in Radon Tier 2 (moderate potential: 5 to 24 percent of tested homes at or above 4 picocuries per liter) based on indoor radon tests (2015). In that report, 19% of the 10,319 homes tested in Cherry Hill were at or above 4 picocuries per liter. NJDEP recommends testing every home regardless of tier. How radon tiers work.
Source: New Jersey DEP Radon Section, 2015 Radon Tier Assignment Report; the same figures appear in NJDEP's current municipal tier list.
Known contaminated sites
NJDEP lists 74 sites in Cherry Hill where soil or groundwater contamination has been confirmed (October 14, 2026). These are places under cleanup oversight; they do not mean that tap water from the public system is contaminated. The public water system is tested and treated separately.
Source: New Jersey DEP, Known Contaminated Sites List map layer, retrieved October 16, 2026, with site-by-site lists in NJDEP's Known Contaminated Sites reports.
Water and sewer bills
In the Census Bureau's survey (ACS 2020-2024, about this question), 86% (margin of error ±2 percentage points) of occupied homes in Cherry Hill pay a separate charge for water and sewer; the rest report no charge or a charge included in other fees, such as rent. Among the homes that pay, 34% (margin of error ±2 percentage points) report $1,000 or more for the year (35% in Camden County, 30% statewide), as households report it rather than as the utility bills it.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25134 (Annual Water and Sewer Costs).
ZIP codes covering Cherry Hill: 08002, 08003, 08034. Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
Sources. 2025 water quality report, New Jersey American Water, Western system (public water system NJ0327001), checked against the original in September, October and November 2026; EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System. How we check the data · report an error.
Other towns on the same water system
These towns get their water from the New Jersey American Water, Western system, so their results match Cherry Hill's: