Ridgewood Water serves about 61,000 people in Wyckoff, Ridgewood, Glen Rock and Midland Park. As of mid-2026, 18 of its monitoring points still exceed New Jersey’s PFOA limit. Here is where the cleanup stands, what it means at your tap, and how to protect your family now.
Numbers from Ridgewood Water’s own reports, updated as they change.
Ridgewood Water is a groundwater utility: 53 wells in the Brunswick aquifer, consolidated into 12 PFAS treatment facilities under a consent order with the state. As of July 31, 2026, seven of the twelve plants are running, four more are due by the end of 2026, and the Cedar Hill facility in Wyckoff has been pushed to early 2027 after an archaeological study was required on part of the site. The program is budgeted at more than $100 million.
Until every plant is online, the water reaching your tap is a blend, and the blend changes. In the second quarter of 2026, 18 monitoring points exceeded New Jersey’s 14 ppt PFOA limit, with some readings as high as 36 ppt, and four exceeded the 13 ppt PFOS limit. The newer federal standard is 4 ppt for each. Customers are also paying a PFAS surcharge on every quarterly bill: $37.07 for a standard residential meter in mid-2026, rising to $40.78 later in the year.
PFOA and PFOS are absorbed mainly by drinking and cooking with the water, not by showering or bathing, and boiling does not remove them. Ridgewood Water’s own guidance points to granular activated carbon, reverse osmosis or both, certified under NSF P473 or NSF 58, and suggests that pregnant women, infants, older adults and people with weakened immune systems talk to a doctor or consider an alternative source in the meantime.
A reverse osmosis system at the kitchen sink is the most complete fix: it removes PFAS along with lead, nitrates and dissolved solids regardless of which wells are feeding your street on a given day, and over a few years it costs far less than bottled water. A whole-house carbon system can lower PFAS at every tap but needs regular media changes to keep working.
The one number that matters is the one at your tap.
Ridgewood Water has identified roughly 1,900 lead service lines and close to 700 lines of unknown material in its system, many in the older neighborhoods of Wyckoff, Ridgewood and Glen Rock. If your home was built before the 1960s, ask the utility whether your line is on the inventory. A reverse osmosis system removes lead at the tap while you wait for a replacement, and we look at the visible service line during every free water test.
We test hardness, chlorine, TDS, pH and iron at your kitchen tap and walk you through Ridgewood Water’s latest quarterly PFAS results for your part of the system. Hardness matters here too: aquifer water in Wyckoff and Ridgewood scales water heaters and fixtures, and a softener paired with reverse osmosis is the most common setup we install for Ridgewood Water customers. There is no charge and no obligation.
The water meets every standard except the PFAS limits at some monitoring points, and the utility is under a state consent order to finish treatment. Whether that is acceptable for your household is a personal decision; the state and Ridgewood Water both say sensitive groups should consider point-of-use treatment or another source until the plants are complete.
Wyckoff, Ridgewood, Glen Rock and Midland Park, about 61,000 people. Franklin Lakes and Oakland are on different systems; see our Franklin Lakes and Oakland pages for those.
Only if it is certified for PFOA and PFOS under NSF P473 or NSF 53, and only for its rated number of gallons. Most pitcher and refrigerator filters are certified for taste and chlorine, not PFAS. Reverse osmosis certified to NSF 58 for PFOA and PFOS is the option Ridgewood Water and NJDEP both point to.
The surcharge pays for the treatment program and its financing, so expect it to stay on bills for years after construction ends. Check Ridgewood Water’s rate notices for the current figure.
Call (201) 208-7807 to book a free in-home water test in Wyckoff, Ridgewood, Glen Rock or Midland Park. We are based at 322 Calvin Ct in Wyckoff, inside the Ridgewood Water service area, and our licensed plumber installs reverse osmosis and softener systems for Ridgewood Water customers every week.
