Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Is Dover, DE tap water safe?

4 utilities serve Dover, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Delaware’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

None of the 4 utilities serving Dover has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Delaware’s records.

Dover Water Department, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 37.2 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from Dover Water Department is soft to moderately hard depending on the source, 23 to 117 mg/L (1.3 to 6.8 grains per gallon). How Delaware’s water compares.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Dover’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Dover Water Department’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Dover

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Delaware certifies.

The 3 labs Delaware certifies closest to Dover, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

Delaware Division of Public Health: Test kits for private well owners, for bacteria plus nitrate, nitrite, iron, fluoride, sodium, hardness and other minerals. Pick one up and bring it back on a weekday at state health offices, including Newark, Smyrna and Georgetown. No charge for the kit or the testing. Private Drinking Water, Delaware Health and Social Services.

All 13 certified labs for Delaware

ZIP codes in Dover

Which ZIP codes are in Dover: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Delaware Office of Drinking Water, approved laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Dover

Other towns in Kent County with a page of their own.

What to do next