New Jersey tap water / Towns / Middlesex County
Dunellen, NJ tap water quality
Dunellen's water met New Jersey's PFAS limits in 2025, but PFOA and PFOS were above EPA's national limit of 4 ppt, which utilities must meet by 2029.
Dunellen, in Middlesex County, has about 8,337 residents. Virtually all of them live inside the service area of New Jersey American Water's Raritan system, according to New Jersey DEP's service area map.
PFAS in the 2025 report Highest compliance result, NJ American Water, Raritan system
- PFOA7 pptRange in the report: not detected to 7 pptNJ limit 14 · Federal limit 4Below NJ limit, above federal
- PFOS6 pptRange in the report: not detected to 6 pptNJ limit 13 · Federal limit 4Below NJ limit, above federal
Charts and full results for the NJ American Water, Raritan system
Is Dunellen tap water safe?
We don't say whether Dunellen'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 Raritan system's 2025 water quality report lists the highest compliance result: 7 ppt of PFOA and 6 ppt of PFOS. The report doesn't say whether that figure is a single result or a running annual average. These were below New Jersey's limits (14 ppt for PFOA and 13 ppt for PFOS), the ones utilities must meet today, but PFOA and PFOS were above EPA's national limits (4 ppt each). A reported value above EPA's limit isn't a violation yet: utilities must meet EPA's PFOA and PFOS limits by 2029, and compliance is then judged on running annual averages. Compare it with other New Jersey systems' PFAS results.
Hardness and lead in Dunellen's water
- Hardness
- Not listed in the 2025 report
- Lead, 90th percentile of home taps
- 2 ppbAction level: 15 ppb, dropping to 10 ppb in November 2027
Filtering Dunellen's tap water at home
PFOA and PFOS were above the federal limits in this system's report. We found 9 filters with a certified PFOA and PFOS reduction claim (on its own or as part of a total PFAS claim), checked against the manufacturer's performance data sheet; the water system page lists them with a link to each document.
Where does Dunellen's water come from?
The Raritan system's 2025 report lists its own sources as 98 wells, 7 surface water intakes.
New Jersey American Water runs the Raritan system. For billing, starting or stopping service, or account questions, go to New Jersey American Water's customer service page.
Local factors in Dunellen
Dunellen's municipal boundary on an aerial photo taken August 9, 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
87% (margin of error ±13 percentage points) of homes in Dunellen were built before 1980 (Middlesex County: 57%, 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 2,531 service lines (the pipes from the water main to each building) in Dunellen on October 31, 2026. 49 of them (2%) have lead on the utility's side, the property owner's side or both (15 only on the utility's side, 34 only on the owner's side), and New Jersey's 2021 lead service line law requires the utility to replace them, including the part on private property. For 458, 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 Dunellen in Radon Tier 3 (low potential: under 5 percent of tested homes at or above 4 picocuries per liter) based on indoor radon tests (2015). In that report, 3% of the 1,173 homes tested in Dunellen 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 8 sites in Dunellen 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), 80% (margin of error ±9 percentage points) of occupied homes in Dunellen 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, 40% (margin of error ±13 percentage points) report $1,000 or more for the year (32% in Middlesex 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 code covering Dunellen: 08812 (shared with Green Brook). Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
Sources. 2025 water quality report, New Jersey American Water, Raritan system (public water system NJ2004002), checked against the original in September 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, Raritan system, so their results match Dunellen's:
- Piscataway tap water
- Plainfield tap water
- Bridgewater tap water
- Linden tap water
- Hillsborough tap water
- Union Township tap water
- Westfield tap water
- Princeton tap water
- West Windsor tap water
- Scotch Plains tap water
- Plainsboro tap water
- Cranford tap water
- Montgomery tap water
- Raritan Township tap water
- North Plainfield tap water
- Roselle tap water
- Hillside tap water
- Warren tap water
- Clark tap water
- Branchburg tap water
- Middlesex tap water
- Roselle Park tap water
- Somerville tap water
- Bound Brook tap water
- Manville tap water
- Kenilworth tap water
- Raritan Borough tap water
- Fanwood tap water
- Green Brook tap water
- Mountainside tap water
- Watchung tap water
- Jamesburg tap water