💧 NJ ranks second-worst when it comes to drinking water quality in the U.S.

💧 The study was conducted by PFAS Water Experts

💧 The state's water is filled with many contaminants, the study revealed


You may want to think twice before drinking that glass of tap water.

New research reveals New Jersey has the second-worst drinking water quality in the nation.

PFAS Water Experts analyzed data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the water quality violations in public water systems (PWS) from 2019-2023.

The analysis focused on health-based contaminants that pose long-term risks, such as lead and arsenic, and acute health-based contaminants that pose immediate dangers to health such as E. coli, to determine water quality violations.

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Elena Elisseeva
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Next, they identified the number of people in each state served by PWS with these violations and compared these figures to the state’s average population from 2019-2023. This revealed the states with the highest percentage of people affected by contaminated water.

New York has the worst drinking water quality in the nation, with 53.3% of the population being served by public water systems with health violations during those five years. The state reported 10,520,100 people served by PWS with health-based and acute health-based violations. These make up 82.2% of all PWS violations in the state.

As mentioned, New Jersey has the second-worst drinking water quality in the U.S., with 38.6% of the population having been served by PWS with any health-related violations.
According to the data, the state recorded 1,279,034 acute health-based violations and 2,807,128 health-based violations over the five years, which made up a combined 44.8% of all PWS violations in the state.

Water (Canva)
Water (Canva)
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“New York’s population has the highest percentage so far. The New York State Department of Health says that 95% of the state’s population relies on public water systems for their drinking and household water supplies, compared to 87% in New Jersey, the state ranking second,” said Andrew J. Cobos, attorney-at-law and chief veteran legal counsel at PFAS Water Experts.

Louisiana, Maryland, Arizona, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Oregon make up the top 10 states with the worst water quality in America.

North Dakota has the best quality drinking water in the nation. Nevada is the state with the second-best water quality, followed by Washington, Hawaii, Minnesota, Connecticut, Illinois, Nebraska, Delaware, and Virginia round out the top 10.

Full rankings of the states with the highest percentage of people served by public water systems with health-based and acute health-based water quality violations from 2019-2023 can be found below.

Water rankings (Journo Research)
Water rankings (Journo Research)
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“Drinking contaminated water can have both short and long-term effects. Whether someone experiences health effects and how severe they are, depends on things like the type and amount of contaminant, how much water they drink, how long they’re exposed, and their individual susceptibility,” Cobos said.

If you suspect contamination, reach out to your local water provider or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for more information on testing and safety measures.

The findings were published in Journo Research.

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