Garfield Water Department

Water Quality Snapshot: Garfield Water Department

Garfield Water Department is a local-owned community water system that delivers drinking water to 30,487 residents in Garfield, New Jersey (Bergen County) through 6,471 service connections. Its water is drawn from surface water sources. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System records 185 total violations for this system , of which 46 (25%) are health-based, meaning a contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level or a required treatment technique failed. A further 124 monitoring and reporting violations are on file. The most recent violation on record dates to 2021.

The most frequently cited contaminant at this system is Coliform (TCR), recorded in 37 violations (MCL, health-based). Under EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program, 6 PFAS compounds were detected in samples collected from this system, with a maximum reported concentration of 23.6 ppt (parts per trillion). PFAS are persistent synthetic chemicals linked to health effects at very low exposure levels.

Across New Jersey, EPA tracks 3,428 public water systems serving 9,570,926 people, with 204,988 cumulative violations and 22,229 health-based violations on record. About 95% of systems in the state carry at least one violation, and state-wide the average per system is 59.8 violations. Statewide, 208 of 264 UCMR5-tested systems have reported PFAS detections (78.8%).

Garfield Water Department's 185 violations sit above the New Jersey average.

All figures above are sourced directly from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 public data releases and are updated as EPA publishes new reporting cycles.