New Jersey tap water / Towns / Cape May County
Ocean City, NJ tap water quality
The 2025 report from the utility that serves Ocean City doesn't include PFAS results.
Ocean City, in Cape May County, has about 11,101 residents. Virtually all of them live inside the service area of New Jersey American Water's Ocean City system, according to New Jersey DEP's service area map.
This page is about Ocean City's tap water, not the ocean or bay water at its beaches. For beach water quality, see New Jersey DEP's Cooperative Coastal Monitoring Program, which monitors water at New Jersey's ocean and bay beaches.
PFAS in the 2025 report NJ American Water, Ocean City system
The 2025 report doesn't include PFAS results.
Charts and full results for the NJ American Water, Ocean City system
Is Ocean City tap water safe?
We don't say whether Ocean City'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.
The Ocean City system's 2025 water quality report doesn't include PFAS results, so we can't say how Ocean City's water compares with New Jersey's or EPA's PFAS limits. See how New Jersey water systems compare on PFAS.
Hardness and lead in Ocean City's water
- Hardness
- 76 mg/L4.4 grains per gallon, moderately hardThe report lists 76 mg/L as the highest result but a range of 76 to 100 mg/L for the same sample year (2023).New Jersey's recommended upper limit 250 mg/L (for taste and appearance; not enforceable); no federal limit.
- Lead, 90th percentile of home taps
- 0 ppbAction level: 15 ppb, dropping to 10 ppb in November 2027
4.4 grains per gallon in Ocean City's report: size a water softener for Ocean City. Compare it with hardness in other New Jersey water systems.
Filtering Ocean City's tap water at home
The utility's report doesn't include PFAS results, so we can't match a PFAS filter to this water. If you're concerned about lead from your home's pipes, look for a filter certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for lead.
Where does Ocean City's water come from?
The Ocean City system's 2025 report lists its own sources as 8 wells (groundwater), disinfected with chlorine.
The Ocean City system is run by New Jersey American Water. Its customer service page covers paying a bill and starting or stopping service.
Local factors in Ocean City
Ocean City's municipal boundary on aerial photos taken between July 30 and 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
42% (margin of error ±3 percentage points) of homes in Ocean City were built before 1980 (Cape May County: 49%, 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 19,900 service lines (the pipes from the water main to each building) in Ocean City on October 31, 2026. 366 of them (2%) have lead on the utility's side, the property owner's side or both (26 only on the utility's side, 335 only on the owner's side, 5 on both), and New Jersey's 2021 lead service line law requires the utility to replace them, including the part on private property. For 1,663, 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 Ocean City 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, 2% of the 63 homes tested in Ocean City 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 21 sites in Ocean City 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), 75% (margin of error ±4 percentage points) of occupied homes in Ocean City 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, 47% (margin of error ±4 percentage points) report $1,000 or more for the year (30% in Cape May 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 Ocean City: 08226. Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
Sources. 2025 water quality report, New Jersey American Water, Ocean City system (public water system NJ0508001), 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, Ocean City system, so their results match Ocean City's: