Bear Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Bear, Delaware, in New Castle County — an unincorporated New Castle County community adjacent to Newark and Christiana, part of the rapidly growing northern Delaware suburban belt in the Wilmington-Newark metropolitan area — receives its municipal water from Artesian Water or Tidewater Utilities, drawing from the Delaware Coastal Plain aquifer system (Piney Point or Patuxent Formation wells) or surface supply in the New Castle County area.

The moderately soft 85 mg/L hardness and TDS of 210.8 mg/L reflect the New Castle County Delaware Coastal Plain aquifer character. The Piney Point Formation (Eocene calcareous glauconitic sand) and the Potomac Group aquifer (Cretaceous calcareous alluvial sands and gravels) in New Castle County produce moderately soft-to-hard water depending on well depth and aquifer zone. The Bear area's 85 mg/L suggests shallow-to-intermediate aquifer access with moderate carbonate dissolution from the calcareous Coastal Plain sediment matrix — softer than the deeper, more mineralized Piney Point or the hard Chester Valley limestone zones.

At 85 mg/L, Bear's water is moderately soft — comfortable for household use. Scale forms slowly, soap lathers well, and appliances operate efficiently. Semi-annual descaling is adequate. The PFAS level of 5.4 ppt warrants a certified drinking water filter — the Dover Air Force Base (Kent County DE — a major C-5 airlift wing, documented AFFF PFAS site in the Delaware watershed), the Dupont/Chemours Chambers Works (Salem County NJ — one of the most significant PFAS manufacturing facilities in the United States, documented source of PFOA-PFOS in the Delaware River-Bay watershed), and the New Castle County industrial corridor contribute to Bear's readings.