State profile · EPA SDWIS + UCMR5
Arizona Drinking Water Quality
1,493 SDWIS-listed systems serve 7,322,166 people. UCMR5 PFAS detection is 37.5% on the tested subset (upper-third UCMR5 detection (> 35.3%)); SDWIS violation rate is 98.4%.
- 1,493
- SDWIS water systems
- 228,944
- Total violations
- 98.4%
- SDWIS systems w/ a violation
- 37.5%
- UCMR5 PFAS rate (152 tested)
The verdict
UCMR5 PFAS detection is 37.5% (57 of 152 tested) - upper-third UCMR5 detection (> 35.3%). According to EPA SDWIS population served, Arizona ranks #17 of 66 states and territories by people served through public water systems.
- #17 of 66
- Population · states corpus
- 228,944
- Total EPA violations on record
- 7%
- Health-based (MCL / treatment)
- 98.4%
- SDWIS systems with ≥1 violation
SDWIS violation % and UCMR5 PFAS % use different denominators (full inventory vs tested subset). Population ordinal uses SDWIS population served.
Arizona standing, high SDWIS violation-rate third
Arizona sits in the upper third of jurisdictions by SDWIS violation rate (98.4%), so the system lists below sample one of the denser state-level compliance trails in this extract. Population served is large (7,322,166; larger served population (> 5,131,439)), so household exposure scale sits behind inventory and rate. Health-based share is only 7% - almost all of this trail is monitoring/reporting rather than MCL exceedance. UCMR5 PFAS detection is 37.5% on the tested subset (upper-third UCMR5 detection (> 35.3%)) - a different denominator from the SDWIS violation rate. Systems listed below are ranked by population served or violation count; pair rate with inventory size before reading exposure scale.
Nationwide similar states
Nearest by SDWIS violation rate
Nearest by population served
Health-based share of this violation record
EPA SDWIS classifications for Arizona's 228,944 recorded violations.
Arizona vs nearest violation-rate peers
Share of SDWIS-listed systems with at least one recorded violation; peers are nearest by absolute rate distance, not a fixed top-seven list.
- AZ
Arizona
98.4 % of systems
- OR
Oregon
98.5 % of systems
- MP
Northern Mariana Islands
98.3 % of systems
- AL
Alabama
98.6 % of systems
- OK
Oklahoma
98.2 % of systems
What this shows Arizona's rate is 98.4% (1,469 of 1,493 systems; upper-third rate (> 96.1%)). This is a comparison of recorded SDWIS violations, not a measure of current water safety.
Arizona vs all jurisdictions by SDWIS system inventory
Where this state's public water system count sits among every state and territory on PlainWater
1,493 28th of 66 higher than 38 of 66 jurisdictions
States and territories, banded by SDWIS-listed public water system count
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more jurisdictions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source EPA SDWIS state aggregates · 2026-05-15
Largest Water Systems
Most Violations
Counties in Arizona
Context: PFAS in drinking water · methodology · all states
Every figure on PlainWater is rendered directly from EPA SDWIS drinking-water data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on EPA SDWIS data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.