States → New Mexico
State profile · EPA SDWIS + UCMR5
New Mexico Drinking Water Quality
1,037 public water systems serve 2,027,497 people across New Mexico, with every Safe Drinking Water Act violation and UCMR5 PFAS result on record.
- 1,037
- Water systems
- 154,522
- Total violations
- 96.9%
- Systems w/ a violation
- 97.2%
- PFAS detection rate
The verdict
Across New Mexico, 1,005 of 1,037 water systems (96.9%) carry at least one EPA violation, and 70 of 72 UCMR5-tested systems show PFAS.
- 154,522
- Total EPA violations on record
- 25%
- Health-based (MCL / treatment)
- 96.9%
- Systems with ≥1 violation
- 97.2%
- UCMR5 PFAS detection rate
Water Systems
1,037
Total Violations
154,522
Violation Rate
96.9%
PFAS Detection
97.2%
70 of 72 tested
Violation Composition
How New Mexico's 154,522 violations break down by type, per EPA SDWIS classification.
Health-based (38,650) Monitoring/Reporting (115,872)
| Metric | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Public water systems | 1,037 | - |
| Population served | 2,027,497 | - |
| Total violations | 154,522 | 100% |
| Health-based violations | 38,650 | 25.0% |
| Systems with violations | 1,005 | 96.9% |
| PFAS detection rate | 70 of 72 | 97.2% |
Health-based violations indicate the contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) or treatment-technique requirement. Monitoring/reporting violations indicate procedural issues (missed tests, late reports) - not necessarily a contamination event.
Largest Water Systems
Albuquerque Water System
Albuquerque, NM · 560,326 served
Rio Rancho Water & Ww Services
Rio Rancho, NM · 107,350 served
Las Cruces Municipal Water System
Las Cruces, NM · 98,175 served
Santa Fe Water System (City Of)
Santa Fe, NM · 90,810 served
Roswell Municipal Water System
Roswell, NM · 54,025 served
Farmington Water System
Farmington, NM · 47,655 served
Epcor Water New Mexico Inc Clovis
Clovis, NM · 41,066 served
Hobbs Municipal Water Supply
Hobbs, NM · 40,418 served
Alamogordo Domestic Water System
La Luz, NM · 35,301 served
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM · 35,000 served
Carlsbad Municipal Water System
Carlsbad, NM · 33,626 served
Los Alamos Municipal Water System
Los Alamos, NM · 25,000 served
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM · 24,000 served
Kirtland Air Force Base
Albuquerque, NM · 22,500 served
Gallup Water System
Gallup, NM · 20,880 served
Camino Real Regional Utility Authority
Sunland Park, NM · 19,466 served
Los Lunas Water System
Los Lunas, NM · 19,400 served
Dona Ana Mdwca
Dona Ana, NM · 17,067 served
Deming Municipal Water System
Deming, NM · 16,236 served
Ruidoso Water System
Ruidoso, NM · 15,947 served
Most Violations
#1 Loma Escondida Water Association Albuquerque
1,900 #2 Cassandra Water System Moriaty
1,289 #3 Lumberton Mdwca Lumberton
1,277 #4 Longhorn Estates Water System Clovis
1,233 #5 Pine River Mdca Ignacio
1,207 #6 Western Terrace Albuquerque
1,169 #7 Santa Cruz Water Association Santa Cruz
1,003 #8 Chevron Mining Inc Questa Mine Questa
978 #9 Chilili Water Users Assn Chilili
950 #10 Highland Meadows Estates Mdwca Laguna
913 #11 Upper Holman Mdwca Holman
913 #12 Miami Water Users Association Springer
902 #13 Pinon Hills RV Park Capitan
870 #14 Jemez Valley Public Schools Jemez Pueblo
862 #15 El Shaddai Water Co Op Los Lunas
813 Counties in New Mexico
Bernalillo
82 systems · 651,858 served
· 15,222 violations
Dona Ana
68 systems · 251,275 served
· 7,336 violations
Santa Fe
84 systems · 146,927 served
· 11,238 violations
Sandoval
62 systems · 135,220 served
· 12,440 violations
San Juan
22 systems · 103,721 served
· 5,118 violations
Otero
55 systems · 71,033 served
· 7,026 violations
Eddy
28 systems · 67,422 served
· 3,187 violations
Lea
23 systems · 66,976 served
· 1,905 violations
Chaves
15 systems · 64,059 served
· 1,075 violations
Curry
16 systems · 53,914 served
· 2,893 violations
Valencia
30 systems · 51,956 served
· 8,331 violations
Lincoln
52 systems · 36,231 served
· 6,263 violations
McKinley
28 systems · 34,524 served
· 3,979 violations
Rio Arriba
63 systems · 29,347 served
· 14,535 violations
Grant
27 systems · 26,969 served
· 2,335 violations
Colfax
52 systems · 25,433 served
· 5,082 violations
Los Alamos
2 systems · 25,350 served
· 117 violations
Taos
95 systems · 25,233 served
· 10,807 violations
San Miguel
45 systems · 24,231 served
· 6,436 violations
Cibola
18 systems · 20,138 served
· 3,798 violations
Socorro
18 systems · 19,560 served
· 2,053 violations
Luna
14 systems · 19,514 served
· 1,440 violations
Roosevelt
8 systems · 18,698 served
· 905 violations
Sierra
22 systems · 11,599 served
· 1,962 violations
Quay
10 systems · 10,646 served
· 569 violations
Torrance
27 systems · 10,538 served
· 6,677 violations
Guadalupe
12 systems · 6,387 served
· 1,505 violations
Union
8 systems · 4,699 served
· 434 violations
Mora
21 systems · 4,341 served
· 5,016 violations
Hidalgo
9 systems · 4,264 served
· 2,378 violations
Showing top 30 of 33 counties.
Drinking Water Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
How many water systems are in New Mexico? ▼
New Mexico has 1,037 public water systems serving approximately 2,027,497 people. These include community water systems, non-transient non-community systems, and transient non-community systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
How many drinking water violations are in New Mexico? ▼
New Mexico has 154,522 total drinking water violations on record, with 38,650 classified as health-based violations. 96.9% of water systems in the state have at least one violation.
Has PFAS been found in New Mexico drinking water? ▼
Of 72 water systems tested for PFAS in New Mexico, 70 had PFAS detected, a 97.2% detection rate. PFAS are persistent "forever chemicals" that do not break down in the environment.
What is the violation rate for New Mexico water systems? ▼
New Mexico's violation rate is 96.9%. This measures the percentage of public water systems that have at least one recorded violation in the EPA SDWIS database, including both health-based and monitoring/reporting violations.
Where does this New Mexico water data come from? ▼
All drinking water data comes from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) and the UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program. SDWIS is the federal database that tracks compliance for all public water systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Data Sources & Methodology
Drinking water violation data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS). PFAS testing data from the UCMR5 monitoring program. SDWIS tracks all public water systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 PFAS monitoring data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainWater Editorial
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.