Passaic County, New Jersey: drinking water report. Passaic County in northern New Jersey serves about 502,000 residents across 16 municipalities including…
Passaic County in northern New Jersey serves about 502,000 residents across 16 municipalities including Paterson, Passaic, and Clifton. Water comes from a network of reservoirs, rivers, and wells managed by multiple utilities including Passaic Valley Water Commission and Suez Water New Jersey. The Passaic River, one of the most historically polluted waterways in the Northeast, flows through the county and feeds several supply sources.
The Passaic River's lower reach is a Superfund site, contaminated with dioxins from the Diamond Alkali plant in Newark. While Passaic County's water intakes sit upstream of the worst contamination, the river still carries industrial legacy compounds. According to the NJDEP's 2024 water quality report, the Passaic River watershed shows elevated levels of chlorinated pesticides and PCBs in sediment, with occasional detections in source water monitoring.
New Jersey has among the strictest PFAS standards in the country – 13 ppt for PFNA, 14 ppt for PFOA, and 13 ppt for PFOS. The NJDEP's 2024 compliance data shows that three public water systems in Passaic County required treatment upgrades to meet these limits. Industrial sites and the former Great Notch firing range are suspected PFAS sources.
New Jersey's strict standards mean your utility is more likely to treat for PFAS than utilities in states with weaker regulations. That said, treatment at the plant does not address every contaminant, and older buildings in Paterson and Passaic may have lead service lines or internal lead plumbing.
Check your water to see what has been detected at your address. For homes with older plumbing, a lead-certified filter makes sense alongside any PFAS concerns. Our water filter guide compares systems that handle both. Pull your detailed report for multi-year data, and visit our New Jersey page for statewide context.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Passaic County, NJ.
The EPA places Passaic County, NJ in Zone 2 - a moderate-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
79% of homes in Passaic County, NJ were built before 1980, and 39% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Passaic County, NJ averages 7.3 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide