VerifiedWaterFilterData

← All water data studies

Water data study · Updated July 2026

EPA Drinking-Water Violations, by State and System

13,323 public water systems in our data carry at least one EPA drinking-water violation on record since 2016 — 61,474 violations in total.

13,323
water systems with an EPA violation on record
61,474 total violations, affecting about 70 million people
Key findings
  • 13,323 public water systems in our data have at least one EPA violation on record since 2016.
  • Those systems logged 61,474 violations in total.
  • Violations range from serious health exceedances to missed paperwork — the count alone doesn’t tell you which.
  • Pennsylvania had the most systems with a violation on record.

What this means, in plain English

Public water systems have to follow the Safe Drinking Water Act — federal rules about what can be in your water and how often it must be tested and reported. When a system breaks one of those rules, the EPA logs a “violation.” Some violations are serious (a contaminant went over a safe level); others are paperwork problems (a required test was late or missing). We counted every system with at least one violation on record since 2016: 13,323 of them, 61,474 violations in all.

What you can do

A violation count is a flag, not a verdict. Look up your own system’s report to see the specific contaminants involved, then match a certified filter to whatever is actually there.

Violations range from paperwork lapses to health-based exceedances. Check your own system's report for the specific contaminants — then match a certified filter.
Find a certified filter for your water →

By state

States ranked by number of affected public water systems. Click a state for its city-by-city water quality.

# StateSystemsPeople served
1 Pennsylvania 1,158 5,707,087
2 Texas 797 5,102,612
3 California 645 7,183,210
4 Oklahoma 627 1,578,462
5 Florida 586 4,388,102
6 North Carolina 523 3,128,994
7 Louisiana 467 1,688,186
8 Illinois 453 1,180,993
9 Oregon 434 944,212
10 Arizona 413 2,087,239
11 Ohio 394 2,846,742
12 Missouri 366 568,234
13 New Mexico 363 552,063
14 Colorado 359 515,532
15 Washington 356 252,753
16 Connecticut 339 410,480
17 Alaska 320 156,651
18 Michigan 302 575,312
19 Arkansas 259 785,228
20 West Virginia 253 549,054
21 Mississippi 246 815,117
22 New Jersey 213 2,821,272
23 Utah 213 1,359,458
24 Puerto Rico 213 1,239,498
25 Minnesota 199 718,945
26 Montana 189 215,834
27 Idaho 178 220,232
28 Kentucky 169 1,294,285
29 Wisconsin 163 283,213
30 Iowa 151 535,149
31 Virginia 149 526,088
32 South Dakota 148 135,689
33 Nebraska 147 242,406
34 Georgia 143 1,748,081
35 New Hampshire 143 120,589
36 South Carolina 128 1,344,013
37 New York 119 9,008,197
38 Nevada 110 102,353
39 Indiana 102 186,739
40 Vermont 98 58,243
41 Maine 94 49,244
42 Kansas 87 151,535
43 Alabama 65 889,630
44 Wyoming 58 43,428
45 Tennessee 45 478,280
46 Rhode Island 34 521,653
47 North Dakota 22 150,731
48 Massachusetts 22 3,087
49 Northern Mariana Islands 19 56,119
50 Delaware 8 110,339
51 District of Columbia 7 2,237
52 American Samoa 6 46,780
53 Maryland 6 1,153
54 Hawaii 4 31,412
55 U.S. Virgin Islands 1 436

Most affected water systems

The 250 highest-ranking systems. Search for your city or utility.

# Water systemCityStateViolations on record
1 City Of Brady Water System Brady TX 334
2 May Valley Wa Wiley CO 300
3 Hominy Hominy OK 196
4 Barnsdall Barnsdall OK 183
5 Waukesha Water Utility 157
6 Valley Estates Shallowater TX 151
7 Tempe Wsc 1 Livingston TX 142
8 Maysville Maysville OK 137
9 Lindsay, City Of Lindsay CA 127
10 Valley Wc Manzanola CO 126
11 Grassland Wsc Tahoka TX 124
12 Wewoka Public Works Authority Wewoka OK 115
13 Waurika Public Works Authority Waurika OK 106
14 Seven Estates Wolfforth TX 104
15 Ryan Utilities Authority Ryan OK 103
16 Franklin Water Systems 3 Des Peres MO 103
17 Osage Co Rwd #20 (Hulah) Bartlesville OK 101
18 Beggs Beggs OK 100
19 Grindstone Rancheria Elk Creek CA 100
20 Cleveland Municipal Authority Cleveland OK 99
21 Millersview Doole Wsc Millersview TX 93
22 Abraxas Utilities Des Peres MO 90
23 Pushmataha Co. Rwd #3 Antlers OK 89
24 Forest Wsc Wells TX 88
25 Stringtown Pwa Stringtown OK 88
26 Mohawk Valley School District Roll AZ 86
27 Country View Mhp Shallowater TX 86
28 Osage Co Rwd # 5 Barnsdall OK 85
29 Metropolitano 85
30 Bois D Arc Water System Hope AR 85
31 Boswell Public Works Authority Boswell OK 85
32 Okmulgee Pwa Okmulgee OK 85
33 Fairfax Fairfax OK 85
34 Weiss Estates Water System Bandon OR 78
35 Council Creek Village Des Peres MO 77
36 Southern Okla Water Corp Ardmore OK 77
37 Avant Utilities Authority Avant OK 77
38 Bullman Beach Neah Bay WA 77
39 Denton Town Of Denton MT 76
40 Vixen Water System Columbia LA 76
41 Beehive Water Association Cheraw CO 76
42 Muskogee Co. Rwd #5 Muskogee OK 74
43 Town Of Ferriday Water System Ferriday LA 74
44 Pittsburg Co. Rwd #14 Mcalester OK 74
45 Haskell Pwa-Swp Haskell OK 72
46 Highland Court Weatherford TX 71
47 Patterson Valley Wc Rocky Ford CO 69
48 Kotzebue Mun. Water System Kotzebue AK 68
49 Pittsburg Pittsburg OK 68
50 Eakly Development Corp Eakly OK 68
51 Muskogee Co. Rwd #6 Wainwright OK 68
52 Peaceful Lane Village New Braunfels TX 68
53 Village Of Sikes Water System Sikes LA 68
54 London Water Co-Op Cottage Grove OR 67
55 Hugo Municipal Authority Hugo OK 67
56 B J Baldwin Electric Inc Narvon PA 67
57 Idabel Pwa Idabel OK 67
58 Eufaula Pwa Eufaula OK 66
59 Holdenville Holdenville OK 64
60 Giorgi Farm 1 Transient Wells Temple PA 64
61 Pendleton Water Association Many LA 63
62 Town North Estates Lubbock TX 63
63 Pecan Tree Water Assn Noble OK 63
64 South Council Creek 2 Des Peres MO 63
65 Okmulgee Co. Rwd #6 (Hectorville) Mounds OK 63
66 Okmulgee Co. Rwd #4 Morris OK 62
67 Vroman Wc Manzanola CO 62
68 Fort Belknap Agency Water System Harlem MT 61
69 Arimak Water Supply Kerrville TX 61
70 Mission Creek Water Assn Bonners Ferry ID 61
71 South Midland County Water System Barker TX 60
72 Town Of Newellton Water System Newellton LA 60
73 Grayhorse Rwd Fairfax OK 59
74 Mccurtain Municipal Authority Mccurtain OK 59
75 Okmulgee Co. Rwd #20 Morris OK 59
76 South Silver Creek I Ii & Iii Des Peres MO 59
77 Muskogee Co. Rwd #3 Council Hill OK 59
78 Village Of Calvin Water System Calvin LA 58
79 City Of New Home New Home TX 57
80 Sr-6 / I-75 Hamilton County Wtp Jasper FL 57
81 Kivalina Water System Kivalina AK 57
82 Whitehall Town Of Whitehall MT 57
83 Orient Water Company Republic WA 56
84 Tata Chemicals Soda Ash Partners, Llc Green River WY 55
85 Tatitlek Water System Tatitlek AK 55
86 Grandfield Grandfield OK 55
87 Fayette Wc Manzanola CO 55
88 West Winn Water System Inc Winnfield LA 55
89 Hosanna Heights Water Mammoth Spring AR 54
90 Twin Valley Inc Castroville CA 54
91 Rainbird Valley Mwc Weldon CA 54
92 Comanche Public Works Authority Comanche OK 53
93 Wellton Town Of Wellton AZ 53
94 Otoe-Missouria Tribe Red Rock OK 52
95 Cimarron Water System Cimarron NM 52
96 Rosemount Water Co Reno NV 52
97 Atoka Co. Rws & Swmd #4 Atoka OK 52
98 Pleasant Hills-Crossroads Water Systems Joyce LA 52
99 Payne Co Rwd #4 Yale OK 52
100 Buena Vista Ws Burnet Chicago IL 51
101 Valley Ford Water Association Valley Ford CA 51
102 Morris Morris OK 51
103 Unalakleet City Water Supply Unalakleet AK 50
104 Village Of Clayton Water System Clayton LA 50
105 Spiro East Water Association Spiro OK 50
106 Manzanola Town Of Manzanola CO 50
107 Myakka River St Pk Sarasota FL 50
108 Madill Madill OK 50
109 Mcintosh Co. Rwd #5 Checotah OK 50
110 Cherokee Co. Rwd #1 (Ft Gibson) Fort Gibson OK 50
111 Lordsburg Water Supply System Lordsburg NM 49
112 Latimer Co. Rwd #2 Talihina OK 49
113 Lakewood Water System Huntington TX 49
114 Kickapoo Tribal Waterworks Horton KS 49
115 Rye Town Of Rye CO 49
116 Pickens Waterworks Pickens AR 49
117 Borden County Water System Gail TX 49
118 Madera Co Sa16 Sumner Hill Madera CA 48
119 Wagoner Co. Rwd #2 Wagoner OK 48
120 Rayburn Country Mud Jasper TX 48
121 Wolfforth Place Wolfforth TX 48
122 Tri Cnty Jt Muni Auth Fredericktown PA 48
123 Wetumka Wetumka OK 48
124 City Of Wellman Wellman TX 48
125 New Hampton Village Pct Glen NH 48
126 Hudson Gaars Mill Water System Dodson LA 48
127 Jones Mcginty Water System Bonita LA 48
128 Cassandra Water System Moriaty NM 48
129 Skyview Acres Water Company Sandy OR 48
130 Hydaburg Hydaburg AK 48
131 R.S. Mutual Water Company Wofford Heights CA 47
132 Muskogee Co. Rwd #1 (Oktaha) Oktaha OK 47
133 Town Of Oil City Water System Oil City LA 47
134 Plott Acres Lubbock TX 47
135 Riverside Wc Rocky Ford CO 46
136 Warren County U.D. #2 Mcminnville TN 46
137 Galena Wtp1 - City Galena AK 46
138 Ebarb Wwks Dist #1 - North Ebarb Zwolle LA 46
139 South Swink Water Authority La Junta CO 46
140 Sonoma County Mutual Water Company San Francisco CA 45
141 Litroe Water System Marion LA 44
142 Burlington City Of Burlington CO 44
143 Ramble Ridge Subdivision Houston TX 44
144 Terrells Mobile Home Park Lovington NM 44
145 Miami Water Users Association Springer NM 44
146 Webb County Water Utilities Laredo TX 44
147 Copan Pwa Copan OK 44
148 Vallenar View Mobile Home Park Anchorage AK 44
149 Trident Seafoods Inc. Sand Pt Seattle WA 44
150 Luquillo Urbano Luquillo PR 44
151 Grayling Water System Grayling AK 43
152 Madera Co Md1-Hidden Lake Estates Madera CA 43
153 Philmont Boy Scout Ranch - Headquarters Cimarron NM 43
154 Village Of Ridgecrest Water Supply Ridgecrest LA 43
155 River Ridge Estates Water System Breaux Bridge LA 43
156 Harlem City Of Harlem MT 43
157 Mcalester Pwa Mcalester OK 43
158 City Of Franklin Water Supply Franklin LA 43
159 Sussex Village Hall & Water Utility 42
160 Olustee Public Works Authority Olustee OK 42
161 Red Hill Waterworks Inc. Georgetown LA 42
162 Anadarko Public Works Authority Anadarko OK 42
163 Fort Jackson Mobile Estates Lubbock TX 42
164 Salem Water System Farmerville LA 42
165 Armstrong Psd Kimberly WV 42
166 Tri-Water System Farmerville LA 42
167 Shidler Shidler OK 42
168 Village Of Georgetown Water Supply Georgetown LA 42
169 Leflore Co. Rwd #3 Whitesboro OK 42
170 Okarche Rwd, Inc Okarche OK 41
171 Pawnee Co Rwd #3 Pawnee OK 41
172 Tullahassee Water Tullahassee OK 41
173 Aguadilla Aguadilla PR 41
174 Southland Isd Slaton TX 41
175 Backwood Village Water System Saline LA 41
176 Pawnee Co Rwd #2 Terlton OK 41
177 Stormlight Mobile Home Park Lubbock TX 41
178 Kake Municipal Water Kake AK 41
179 Cswr Southwest Garden Water Des Peres MO 41
180 Springer Water System Springer NM 41
181 Temple Temple OK 41
182 Sardis Water System Gilbert LA 41
183 Deering Utility System Deering AK 41
184 West Davis Rwd Hennepin OK 41
185 Town North Village Water System Lubbock TX 40
186 Camak Camak GA 40
187 A C Valley Development Corp Foxburg PA 40
188 Ponce Urbano 40
189 Edgar, City Of Edgar NE 40
190 Klawock Klawock AK 40
191 Mcintosh Co. Rwd #8 (Texanna) Eufaula OK 40
192 Scott Manufacturing Lubbock TX 40
193 East End Wa La Junta CO 40
194 Seminole Co. Rwd #1 Wewoka OK 40
195 Rescue Waterworks Rescue VA 40
196 Okmulgee Co. Rwd #2 (Preston) Preston OK 39
197 City Of New Summerfield New Summerfield TX 39
198 Lake Texoma Vfw Post 7873 Pottsboro TX 39
199 Welch Wsc Welch TX 39
200 Silver Knolls Mutual Water Company Reno NV 39
201 St Labre Indian School Ashland MT 39
202 Land Projects Mutual Water Co. Lancaster CA 39
203 Locust Mobile Village Milton-Freewater OR 39
204 Toadlena Ntua Ft Defiance AZ 39
205 Mars Hill And Blaine Water Company Mars Hill ME 39
206 Shoshone Estates Water Co Inc Las Vegas NV 38
207 Cornerstone Care Burgettstown PA 38
208 Marshall County Rural Water District #2 38
209 Talihina Pwa Talihina OK 38
210 Keota Pwa Keota OK 38
211 Leflore Co. Rwd #2 Pocola OK 38
212 Comanche Co Rwd #4 Cache OK 38
213 Canadian Co Rwd # 1 Calumet OK 38
214 Pithole Water Association Smethport PA 38
215 Porter Pwa Porter OK 38
216 Pittsburg Co. Rwd #5 Mcalester OK 38
217 City Of Strawn Strawn TX 38
218 Providence Water Works Providence KY 38
219 Adamson Rwd #8 Hartshorne OK 38
220 Hughson, City Of Hughson CA 38
221 Fcsa 30 - El Porvenir Fresno CA 38
222 Okarche Okarche OK 38
223 Jim Wells County Fwsd 1 Alice TX 38
224 Union Springs Water System Converse LA 37
225 Cotto Laurel 37
226 Riviera Wcid Riviera TX 37
227 Elm Bend Rwd Inc Nowata OK 37
228 Commodore Cove Improvement District Freeport TX 37
229 Country Villa Apts Brentwood CA 37
230 Pittsburg Co. Rwd #7 (Arpelar) Mcalester OK 37
231 Twin Oaks Mhp Midland Savoy MA 37
232 Moro Waterworks Moro AR 37
233 Rockland Oaks An0 N. Scituate RI 37
234 Cookson Hills Christian School Kansas OK 36
235 Wards Chapel Water System Farmerville LA 36
236 River Terrace Tc Soldotna AK 36
237 Concord Water System Marion LA 36
238 North Lake St John Water System Gilbert LA 36
239 Poteau Pwa Poteau OK 36
240 Duncan Public Utilities Authority Duncan OK 36
241 Fcsa 32 - Cantua Creek Fresno CA 36
242 Davenport Utility Auth Davenport OK 36
243 Boynton Pwa Boynton OK 35
244 Circle H Mhp Aberdeen NC 35
245 Lalumina Llc. Sorrento LA 35
246 Hopi Cultural Center Kykotsmovi AZ 35
247 Belen Water System Belen NM 35
248 Selawik Safewater Facility Selawik AK 35
249 Leisure Hills Mobile Home Park Siloam Springs AR 35
250 Mount Ida Waterworks Mount Ida AR 35

Terms, explained

Violation
A record that a water system broke a Safe Drinking Water Act rule. It can be health-based (a contaminant went too high) or a monitoring/reporting rule (a required test or report was late or missing).
Safe Drinking Water Act
The federal law, enforced by the EPA, that sets the rules for public drinking water in the U.S.
Health-based vs. monitoring violation
A health-based violation means a contaminant actually exceeded a safe level. A monitoring/reporting violation means a required test or report was missed — a rule broken on paper, not necessarily unsafe water.
SDWIS
The EPA’s national database (the Safe Drinking Water Information System) that stores these violation records. It’s the source for this study.

Methodology & sources

EPA SDWIS (Safe Drinking Water Information System), violation records since 2016.

Important caveat: A violation count mixes monitoring/reporting violations with health-based ones and does not by itself measure current water safety. Read each system's report for the specifics.

This study draws on 21,807 U.S. public water systems and our full certified-filter database. All EPA data is public domain.

For journalists & researchers

Every figure on this page is free to republish with attribution and a link — no permission needed (CC-BY 4.0).

Cite this study

VerifiedWaterFilterData (July 2026). "EPA Drinking-Water Violations, by State and System." Analysis of EPA public drinking-water and NSF/WQA/IAPMO certification data. https://verifiedwaterfilterdata.com/studies/drinking-water-violations/

Download the data (JSON) Full methodology

Need a custom cut — a single state, county, or contaminant? The underlying data supports it; get in touch.

More water data studies
PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' in U.S. Tap WaterThe True Cost of a Water Filter, per GallonDisinfection Byproducts (TTHM & HAA5) in U.S. Tap WaterMost Water Filters Are Certified for Taste — Not HealthLead in U.S. Tap Water, by State and System