Data & Methodology — Burlington County

Full contaminant data, sample history, and sourcing for Burlington County. For readers who want to go beyond the summary.

Contaminant Data — All Analytes

1181 well testing events on record, covering 22 analytes. Data spans 1923 to 2023.

Contaminant Samples Years Detection Rate Distribution LowModHigh vs. Limit vs. NJ Avg
Iron 913 1934–2023 85%
78% of limit ↓ 84% below
Manganese 889 1951–2023 95%
80% of limit ↓ 83% below
PFOA municipal 178 2020–2025 14%
228% of limit ~ typical
PFOS municipal 176 2020–2025 12%
175% of limit ~ typical
Nitrate 649 1943–2023 73%
1% of limit ↓ 98% below
Arsenic 302 1975–2023 51%
10% of limit ↓ 40% below
Chloride 1055 1934–2023 100%
2% of limit ↓ 95% below
Lead 564 1975–2023 42%
10% of limit ↓ 59% below
PFHxS municipal 175 2020–2025 6%
50% of limit ~ typical
Nitrite 349 1975–2023 14%
1% of limit ↓ 41% below
Fluoride 809 1934–2023 70%
1% of limit ↓ 81% below
Uranium 42 1990–2022 60%
0% of limit ↓ 98% below
Sulfate 914 1934–2023 99%
4% of limit ↓ 77% below
Radon 24 1990–2012 100%
10% of limit ↓ 77% below
PFNA municipal 176 2020–2025 3%
53% of limit ↑ 22% above
HFPO-DA (GenX) municipal 179 2020–2025 0%
— —
E. coli 7 2003–2022 31%
— ~ typical
Hardness 917 1934–2023 100%
— ↓ 90% below
PFBS municipal 176 2020–2025 3%
— ↑ 51% above
pH 949 1943–2023 100%
— ↓ 26% below
Sodium 888 1934–2023 100%
— ↓ 94% below
Total Coliform 7 2003–2022 46%
— ~ typical

Distribution shows the share of samples in each concentration band relative to the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): Low = below half the MCL, Moderate = between half and the MCL, High = above the MCL. Analytes without an MCL (e.g. sodium, pH) show — in the limit columns. State average is based on county median values across NJ.

Compare your result with Burlington County

Of the 302 arsenic tests on record for Burlington County (1975–2023), 49% found none, and half were below 45 ng/L.

Of the 1055 chloride tests on record for Burlington County (1934–2023), 0% found none, and half were below 3.8 mg/L.

Of the 809 fluoride tests on record for Burlington County (1934–2023), 30% found none, and half were below 20 µg/L.

Of the 913 iron tests on record for Burlington County (1934–2023), 15% found none, and half were below 80 µg/L.

Of the 564 lead tests on record for Burlington County (1975–2023), 58% found none.

Of the 889 manganese tests on record for Burlington County (1951–2023), 5% found none, and half were below 34 µg/L.

Of the 649 nitrate tests on record for Burlington County (1943–2023), 27% found none, and half were below 30 µg/L.

Of the 914 sulfate tests on record for Burlington County (1934–2023), 1% found none, and half were below 9.6 mg/L.

Of the 42 uranium tests on record for Burlington County (1990–2022), 40% found none, and half were below 5.5 ng/L.

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Data Coverage & Gaps

Well-sampled analytes (15+ samples)

  • Iron 913 samples
  • Manganese 889 samples
  • PFOA 178 samples
  • PFOS 176 samples
  • Nitrate 649 samples
  • Arsenic 302 samples
  • Chloride 1055 samples
  • Lead 564 samples
  • PFHxS 175 samples
  • Nitrite 349 samples
  • Fluoride 809 samples
  • Uranium 42 samples
  • Sulfate 914 samples
  • Radon 24 samples
  • PFNA 176 samples
  • HFPO-DA (GenX) 179 samples
  • Hardness 917 samples
  • PFBS 176 samples
  • pH 949 samples
  • Sodium 888 samples

Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution

  • E. coli 7 samples
  • Total Coliform 7 samples

Public vs. Private Water in Burlington County

292 Active public water systems
410,331 Residents on public water
14% Households on private wells

Public water systems in Burlington County are regulated by the EPA and must test and report contaminant levels. Private well owners are responsible for their own testing — there is no routine monitoring of private wells by any government agency.

CDC Health Outcome Correlations

Where contaminants detected in Burlington County have established associations with specific health outcomes, we cross-reference CDC PLACES county-level prevalence data. This is a contextual signal, not a causal claim.

Contaminant Associated Condition Burlington County Prevalence NJ Average Source Year
Arsenic Cancer prevalence 5.6% 6.2% 2020
Arsenic Kidney disease rate 2.7% 2.7% 2020
Lead Heart disease rate 5.1% 5.8% 2020

Source: CDC PLACES county-level estimates. Raw data: Download Burlington County CDC PLACES data →

Data Sources

This report aggregates data from the following public databases:

Methodology

Raw records are downloaded from the Water Quality Portal and normalized to µg/L (ppb). Records are deduplicated by sample ID and date, and certified outliers are excluded. Analyte names are mapped to EPA canonical forms. Detection rates, distribution bands, and MCL comparisons are computed from the normalized dataset.

Distribution bands use the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level as the threshold: concentrations below 50% of the MCL are classed as Low, between 50% and 100% as Moderate, and above 100% as High. For analytes without an MCL (sodium, hardness, pH), distribution is not computed.

State comparison uses the median of county median values across all counties in NJ with at least one sample for that analyte.

Last updated: 2026-08-04

Full methodology →