Vineland, New Jersey

What is the Water Quality in Vineland, New Jersey?

Compared to other US cities, Vineland water quality ranks in the very high range for contamination excluding Lead.

Most of their 44 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

• Arsenic is at extremely high levels: 98x health guidelines.
• Radium is at very high levels: 21x health guidelines.

Let’s look closer at what’s in Vineland water.

What’s in Vineland water?

Here are the top 5 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

1. Arsenic – Potential effect: Cancer
2. Bromodichloromethane – Potential effect: Cancer
3. Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
4. Haloacetic acids (HAA5 and HAA9) – Potential effect: Cancer
5. Radium – Potential effect: Cancer

These are five of the 44 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

13 of these contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

Does Vineland have Lead contamination?

Yes, Vineland has lead in its water. The most recent Lead samples collected in 2019 showed concentrations up to 6.1 parts per billion (ppb).

The legal limit for lead is 15 parts per billion. Being well-below this level is a good thing.

• Concentrations between 3.8 ppb and 15 ppb put a formula-fed baby at risk of elevated blood lead levels. Read more about the symptoms of Lead in water.

There is no safe level of lead for humans.

• The good news is that 99.99% of the lead can be filtered out.

See the What Can You Do? section below to learn how to filter out contaminants.

Where does Vineland’s water come from?

Vineland’s water comes from the Burnt Mill Branch – Maurice River watershed.

7 of the 8 water sources in the Burnt Mill Branch – Maurice River watershed are in Impaired or Unknown condition. These include:

• Blackwater Branch – Multiple sections
• Burnt Mill Branch / Hudson Branch
• Green Branch / Endless Branch
• Maurice River – Multiple sections
• Scotland Run

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. Cedar Branch is in Good condition.

Whether a water source is in Impaired or Good condition refers to the quality of three uses:

1. Aquatic Life
2. Fish and Shellfish Consumption
3. Recreation

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

See below for what you can do to improve Vineland’s water.

What Can You Do?

Information about water quality in Vineland can be surprising.

But there are things you can do in your home to clean up your water.

To Remove Lead and Other Contaminants In Your Home:

There is one solution that beats Brita, PUR, and expensive whole house systems.

• It costs less per gallon.
• Needs fewer filter changes.
• And it doesn’t make your water taste weird.

• Use Berkey filters with activated carbon to filter out at least 85% of contaminants in your drinking water.
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Vineland water.
  • Brita can filter 22 of 44 contaminants and Lead depending on the filter.
  • Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
• To filter out 40 of the 44 contaminants, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.
  • These are more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but are more effective.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • 1,4-Dioxane
    • Aluminum
    • Arsenic
    • Barium
    • Beryllium
    • Bromodichloromethane
    • Bromoform
    • Cadmium
    • Chlorate
    • Chloroform
    • Cobalt
    • Cyanide
    • Fluoride
    • Haloacetic acids (HAA5) – byproduct of chlorination*
    • Haloacetic acids (HAA9) – byproduct of chlorination*
    • Hexavalent chromium
    • Mercury – see: Mercury Poisoning
    • Molybdenum
    • MTBE – used as a fuel additive in gasoline to “increase knock resistance and reduce unwanted emissions.” (source)
    • Nitrate
    • Nitrite
    • Radium
    • Selenium
    • Strontium
    • Thallium
    • Total trihalomethanes – byproduct of chlorination*

*Chlorination is an effective method of disinfecting/treating drinking water. You can then use a water filter to reduce the effects of chlorination byproducts to get the safest, cleanest water possible.

In Your Community:

Contact your local government officials and put pressure on them to invest in cleaner waterways and upgraded city water filtration and treatment.

Go to: http://www.vinelandcity.org/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other New Jersey Cities

New Jersey Water Quality Page