Delaware Water Agency Directory

Delaware divides drinking-water responsibilities across several agencies. Here's who to contact for what.

Delaware Division of Public Health / Office of Drinking Water (ODW)

Primary regulator for public water systems. Handles Public Water System Supervision, drinking-water regulations, Drinking Water Watch, CCR requirements, public notices and compliance, Lead and Copper Rule implementation, lead service line inventory transparency, operator certification, laboratory certification, Drinking Water State Revolving Fund coordination, and PFAS implementation for public drinking water.

DNREC (Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control)

Handles well construction and use permits, well records and the Well Viewer, water allocation, groundwater and source-water protection, PFAS investigation and remediation, surface-water and groundwater monitoring, saltwater intrusion and water-supply planning, wastewater and spray-irrigation impacts, and coastal/watershed issues.

Delaware Department of Education (DDOE)

Handles Safe School Drinking Water resources, posted school lead-sampling results, and school facility guidance and operations.

Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL)

Handles current Delaware child-care regulations for family child-care homes, large family child-care homes, and child-care centers. Do not assume a school rule applies automatically to a child-care facility.

Delaware Public Health Laboratory and certified laboratories

Handles private-well sample kits, sample collection instructions, certified drinking-water laboratory requirements, and public-water compliance sampling context.

Delaware law, regulation, and research library

Use these primary sources when a question involves a permit, public-water report, regulated contaminant, or groundwater condition:

7 DE Admin. Code 7301 — construction and use of wells.
7 DE Admin. Code 7302 — well and pump licensing.
16 Del. C. Chapter 1, Subchapter II — public-water reporting and notifications.
Drinking Water Protection Act, 29 Del. C. §§ 8090–8092.
Forever Chemicals Mandatory Reporting Act — Delaware PFAS reporting.
Delaware Geological Survey publications — groundwater, aquifers, salinization, and coastal research.
DGS RI86 — eastern Kent County groundwater and salinization research.
Drinking Water Watch — Delaware public-system records and monitoring.

Regulations and standards can change. Use the linked source and contact DNREC or DPH for time-sensitive compliance questions.

DelawareWaterQuality.com is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with any agency listed above.

Last reviewed: 2026-07-11. Report a correction.