Water Service Outages in Delaware by City
83% of Delaware's 206 community water systems serve 3,300 people or fewer, so many outages and boil water notices affect a single small town or subdivision.
Delaware drinking water record
Busiest year: 2018 (24 violations). Counted by the year the violation period began. Source: EPA SDWIS.
- Community water systems: 206 active systems serve about 1,022,226 people. 171 of them (83%) serve 3,300 people or fewer; 201 draw mainly on groundwater and 5 on surface water.
- Health-based violations since 2015: 86, at 42 systems (20% of all systems). That share is 10th of 50 states (1 = lowest).
- Most common problems: contaminant averages over the limit (47); contaminant readings over the limit (27); E. coli (7). Source: EPA SDWIS
- Largest system: Artesian Water Company, about 231,114 people, with 4 health-based violations since 2015. Source: EPA SDWIS
- Housing age: the median Delaware home was built in 1987 (US 1980). Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 (table B25035)
| System | People served | Main source | Health violations since 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artesian Water Company | 231,114 | Bought surface water | 4 |
| Wilmington Water Department | 107,976 | Surface water | 1 |
| Veolia Water Delaware, Inc | 100,495 | Surface water | 0 |
| Rehoboth Pump District (Tui) | 81,417 | Groundwater | 1 |
| Bethany Bay Pump District | 51,000 | Groundwater | 0 |
| Newark Water Department | 40,000 | Surface water | 1 |
Source: EPA SDWIS.
Delaware is 1st of 4 (1 = lowest share). Source: EPA SDWIS.
Checked September 2026.
Who to call in Delaware, city by city
3 Delaware cities on this site and the water utility for each. What to do while you wait is in our water service outage guide.
- Wilmington City of Wilmington Water Division
- Dover City of Dover Public Utilities
- Newark City of Newark Water
Frequently asked questions
Is there a water service outage in Delaware right now?
Not on this site: no reports from Delaware in the last 24 hours.
How many public water systems are in Delaware?
EPA records list 206 active community water systems in Delaware, serving about 1,022,226 people. 83% serve 3,300 people or fewer.
How common are drinking water violations in Delaware?
Since 2015, 42 of 206 community water systems in Delaware (20%) have had at least one health-based violation, 86 in total.
What is the largest water system in Delaware?
Artesian Water Company, which EPA records list as serving about 231,114 people.
Report counts are user-submitted; other figures name their official source. How our data works
Cities in Delaware with Water Service Outages Information
Dover
no reports in the last 24 hours · pop. 38,079
City of Dover Public Utilities
Wilmington
no reports in the last 24 hours · pop. 70,851
City of Wilmington Water Division