Serving Luzerne County

Water Testing & Filtration in Hanover Township, PA

Hanover Township wraps around Wilkes-Barre’s southern edge, from dense older sections that grew up with the mines to newer streets climbing toward Mountain Top. Most of the township runs on municipal water treated to EPA standards, much of it served by Pennsylvania American Water. What your particular house gets — chlorine, sediment, maybe a lead question — is what the free test measures.

Get your free water test (610) 510-6101

Local water profile

What Hanover Township water is like

Mostly municipal water

Mostly municipal supply — officially soft by the utility’s own published numbers, whatever the valley’s reputation says — with the everyday chlorine taste. The township’s older sections sit on lines from the coal decades, so sediment follows main breaks there; newer developments mostly face the chlorine taste alone. Pre-1986 homes carry the valley’s standing lead-solder question. Up the hill toward Mountain Top, some homes switch to private wells and a different list — iron, genuinely variable hardness, and the annual test Pennsylvania leaves to the owner.

Sound familiar?

What homeowners in Hanover Township notice

Chlorine taste at the kitchen tap
Rusty water for a few hours after main work in the older sections
Grit in faucet aerators on the older blocks
Iron and hardness in the well homes toward Mountain Top

The local issues, honestly

Water issues worth knowing about in Hanover Township

Not everything on this list is dangerous — most of it is a cost or comfort problem, and we label each one honestly. A free test tells you which apply to your home.

Chlorine taste & disinfection byproducts

Depends on your home — test to know

Utilities add chlorine to kill germs on the way to your house — a good thing. But chlorine reacts with natural organic matter to form small amounts of byproducts (THMs and HAAs), and it makes water taste and smell like a pool.

Chlorination is one of the great public-health wins — the taste is the trade-off, not a danger. Byproducts are regulated by EPA because long-term exposure at high levels matters; utilities must stay under those limits. Carbon filtration removes both once the water is safely at your door.

Chlorine taste & smell

Aging water mains & sediment

Nuisance & cost — not a health risk

Much of NEPA’s water travels through mains laid generations ago. Old pipes shed rust and sediment, break more often, and trigger boil-water advisories when pressure drops.

The water leaves the plant clean — the distribution system is where grit and rust pick up. Sediment is mostly a nuisance and a wear-and-tear problem for fixtures and appliances; advisories are the utility being appropriately cautious.

Sediment after main breaks

Lead from older plumbing

Health-relevant — test to know

Lead almost never comes from the source water. It comes from the pipes it travels through — old lead service lines, lead solder used before the 1986 ban, and older brass fixtures.

Lead is a genuine health issue, especially for children — EPA and CDC agree there is no known safe level in a child’s blood. That is a reason to test, not to panic: many older homes test fine, and the fix is well understood.

Lead from service lines

Private wells: you are the water company

Depends on your home — test to know

Pennsylvania does not regulate private wells. Nobody tests your water, treats it, or sends you a quality report — the homeowner is the water company.

Most NEPA wells produce good water. But bacteria (coliform/E. coli), radon, and arsenic occur in some wells with no warning signs at all. Penn State Extension and PA DEP recommend testing every year — it is the entire safety system for a well home.

The well testing schedule PA experts recommend

If your home is older

Hanover Township’s older sections were plumbed before the 1986 lead-solder ban. Lead cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled — for pre-1986 homes, one lead test at the kitchen tap gives a permanent answer. Newer construction was plumbed lead-free by law.

Lead in drinking water — what parents should know

Free · no obligation · ~30 minutes

How the free water test works in Hanover Township

The test is about information, not a sales visit. You find out what is actually in your water, in numbers you can keep — whatever you decide to do next.

1.Pick a time
Call or send the form. We schedule around you — evenings and Saturdays included.
2.We test at your tap
Hardness, pH, iron, chlorine, and total dissolved solids, measured on the spot in about 30 minutes.
3.Plain-English results
Every number explained while you watch. What matters, what doesn’t, and why.
4.Honest next step
If something is worth fixing, you get options and a firm quote. If your water is fine, we tell you and leave.

Good to know

Hanover Township water questions, answered

Is Hanover Township water hard?

On municipal supply, officially no — the utility’s own reports put the valley water around 23–48 ppm, roughly 1.3–2.8 grains per gallon, soft by every threshold — whatever the local reputation says. A softener rarely pays on township city water, and we give that answer straight. The genuinely hard readings belong to private wells up toward Mountain Top, and we measure those free too.

Which parts of the township should think about lead?

The pre-1986 housing — mostly the older sections near the city line, plumbed when lead solder was legal. Lead offers no taste or color warning at any level, so the build year is the only clue. One kitchen-tap test settles it permanently. The township’s newer developments skip the question; their plumbing is lead-free by law.

Did mining under the valley affect township water?

Not the municipal supply — it is treated to EPA standards before delivery, whatever lies underground. The coal legacy is a private-well question: in historically mined areas, old workings can add iron, manganese, and sulfates to groundwater. If your home runs on a well near the township’s edges, one thorough test tells you whether yours is affected.

What happens during the free test?

A local specialist spends about 30 minutes at your kitchen tap measuring hardness, pH, iron, chlorine, and total dissolved solids, explaining each number in plain English as it comes up. Lead screening is available for older homes, well panels for well homes. No cost, no obligation — a clean result gets reported just as plainly as a problem.