Elmwood Park Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Elmwood Park, New Jersey, in Bergen County — a Bergen County borough on the Passaic River adjacent to Paterson and Fair Lawn, a densely populated northern New Jersey community in the Passaic-Hackensack river valley industrial and residential zone — receives its municipal water from Suez Water New Jersey (formerly United Water) or the Passaic Valley Water Commission (PVWC), which draws from the Wanaque Reservoir, the Passaic River, or the Oradell Reservoir (Hackensack River) through the Bergen-Passaic County water supply system.

The moderately hard 160 mg/L hardness and TDS of 400.4 mg/L are harder than neighboring Palisades Park (136 mg/L) from the same supply zone — suggesting Elmwood Park may draw more heavily from the Passaic River supply (which drains more Triassic calcareous terrain) versus the Wanaque Reservoir (Highlands — softer). The Passaic River drains the Triassic Newark Basin (the Passaic Formation red shale and the Lockatong Formation black shale — both calcareous), and the Preakness Basalt and Watchung Basalts (Triassic-Jurassic diabase and basalt). Triassic calcareous redbeds and the extensive Passaic drainage urban runoff contribute the moderate-to-hard finished supply.

At 160 mg/L, Elmwood Park's water is moderately hard — scale builds in kettles and appliances over months, dishwashers benefit from rinse aid, and bathroom fixtures develop calcium deposits. Quarterly descaling is appropriate. The PFAS level of 11.9 ppt is very high and warrants a certified reverse osmosis drinking water filter — the Paterson industrial corridor (the historic Paterson industrial zone — one of America's first industrial cities), Teterboro Airport (Bergen County — AFFF user), and the dense northern NJ chemical-industrial complex all contribute to Bergen County's extreme PFAS reading.