Free New Jersey water report: PFAS & lead levels for every water system, worst-affected cities, and EPA violations. Check your ZIP.
New Jersey's 9.3 million residents are served by a dense network of water utilities drawing from a combination of surface water reservoirs, river intakes, and groundwater wells. The state's geography – stretching from the urban corridor along the Hudson River to the Pine Barrens aquifer system in the south – means water sources and contamination risks vary dramatically by region. Major utilities like New Jersey American Water, Suez (now Veolia), and the Passaic Valley Water Commission serve large populations, while dozens of smaller systems serve individual communities. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is one of the most aggressive state environmental agencies in the country, and its approach to PFAS regulation has set the pace nationally.
New Jersey has the most aggressive PFAS regulations of any state in the United States. NJDEP established enforceable MCLs for PFOA at 14 parts per trillion and PFOS at 13 parts per trillion in 2020 – years before the federal EPA finalized its own standards. The state also set an MCL for PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid) at 13 parts per trillion, making it one of the only states to regulate this specific compound.
Contamination sources in New Jersey are numerous and varied. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, one of the largest military installations on the East Coast, has confirmed PFAS contamination from AFFF use that has affected groundwater in Burlington and Ocean counties. Industrial sources include chemical manufacturing facilities, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants that received industrial discharges. The Pine Barrens aquifer – a vast, shallow groundwater system beneath southern New Jersey – is particularly vulnerable because its sandy soils allow contaminants to migrate quickly.
The EPA's UCMR5 data, combined with NJDEP's own extensive testing program, has identified PFAS detections across much of the state. New Jersey utilities have already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in treatment upgrades, including granular activated carbon and ion exchange systems. Our data integrates federal, state, and utility-level monitoring to provide address-specific results.
New Jersey leads the nation on PFAS regulation, full stop. The state moved faster, set stricter limits, and invested more in enforcement than any other state. Its PFNA standard has no federal equivalent. Its testing requirements cover more compounds than the federal UCMR5 program.
This regulatory posture means New Jersey residents generally have more information about what is in their water than residents of most other states. It also means utilities have been forced to treat earlier, so actual exposure levels at the tap may be lower than in states where contamination exists but treatment has not been mandated.
Compared to neighboring states, New Jersey's approach stands in contrast to Pennsylvania, which has been aggressive on testing but slower on enforceable standards, and New York, which has set its own MCLs but with slightly different compound coverage. The density of contamination sources in New Jersey – military, industrial, and legacy waste – makes the regulatory urgency understandable.
New Jersey's extensive testing infrastructure means more data is available here than in most states, but the variety of water sources means your specific risk profile depends on where you live.
1. Check your water quality using our free lookup tool. We map NJDEP testing data, UCMR5 results, and utility reports to your ZIP code for a complete picture. 2. Even with New Jersey's aggressive treatment mandates, point-of-use filtration adds another layer of protection. A reverse osmosis system removes over 90% of most PFAS compounds. Our water filter guide compares systems by independent test data. 3. If you are on a private well – common in southern New Jersey and rural areas – you are not covered by the public water system regulations. Test your well and request a detailed water report for your address.
For more on PFAS science, see our PFAS guide.
New Jersey's environmental history is shaped by its position as one of the most industrialized and densely populated states in the country. The Superfund program – created in 1980 to clean up the nation's most contaminated sites – has more listings in New Jersey than in any other state, a legacy of decades of chemical manufacturing, petroleum refining, and industrial waste disposal.
PFAS contamination became a prominent issue in New Jersey in the mid-2000s when NJDEP began investigating PFNA contamination linked to a Solvay Specialty Polymers facility in West Deptford. The investigation revealed that industrial emissions and discharges had contaminated drinking water wells in Gloucester and Salem counties. This case was pivotal because it involved a PFAS compound – PFNA – that was not yet on the federal radar, and it drove New Jersey to develop its own regulatory framework independent of EPA timelines.
The military contamination at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst added another layer. The base, which combines three formerly separate installations, has a long history of AFFF use across multiple training areas. Groundwater plumes from the base have been documented in surrounding communities, and the Department of Defense has provided alternative water supplies in some affected areas.
New Jersey's legislative response has been among the most comprehensive in the country. The state has funded PFAS treatment infrastructure, required utilities to report detections publicly, and pursued legal action against manufacturers. The result is a state where PFAS is better monitored and more actively managed than almost anywhere else – but where the sheer density of historical contamination means the problem is far from solved. Check your specific address to see the latest data for your area.