Union City, NJ tap water quality

Union City's water met New Jersey's PFAS limits in 2025, but PFOA was above EPA's national limit of 4 ppt, which utilities must meet by 2029.

Union City, in Hudson County, has about 66,656 residents. Virtually all of them live inside the service area of Veolia Water New Jersey's Hackensack system, according to New Jersey DEP's service area map.

Hardness and lead in Union City's water

Hardness

Up to 210 mg/LUp to 12.3 grains per gallon, very hardNew Jersey's recommended upper limit 250 mg/L (for taste and appearance; not enforceable); no federal limit.

Lead, 90th percentile of home taps

11 ppbAction level: 15 ppb, dropping to 10 ppb in November 2027

Up to 12.3 grains per gallon in Union City's report: size a water softener for Union City. See how hard the water is elsewhere in New Jersey.

Filtering Union City's tap water at home

PFOA was above the federal limit in this system's report. We found 9 filters with a certified PFOA 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 Union City's water come from?

The Hackensack system's 2025 report lists its own sources as Oradell, Woodcliff Lake, Lake Tappan and Lake DeForest reservoirs (Haworth Water Treatment Plant).

Local factors in Union City

Age of homes

71% (margin of error ±4 percentage points) of homes in Union City were built before 1980 (Hudson County: 62%, 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

Veolia Water New Jersey's service line map, where you can look up your own address, lists 10,859 service lines (the pipes from the water main to each building) in Union City on October 31, 2026. 1,697 of them (16%) have lead on the utility's side, the property owner's side or both (878 only on the utility's side, 586 only on the owner's side, 233 on both), and New Jersey's 2021 lead service line law requires the utility to replace them, including the part on private property. For 839, the material on at least one side hasn't been identified yet (how we count service lines; all towns compared).

Source: Veolia Water New Jersey, 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 Union City 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, 6% of the 1,046 homes tested in Union 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 45 sites in Union 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), 25% (margin of error ±2 percentage points) of occupied homes in Union 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, 32% (margin of error ±4 percentage points) report $1,000 or more for the year (34% in Hudson 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 Union City: 07087. Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.