According to New Jersey state officials, 34 drinking water systems that serve a combined 500,000 residents exceeded new standards last year.

The Bergen Record reported the largest water provider that exceeded the standard was the Middlesex Water Company, which serves 233,000 people.

New Jersey state officials are creating a statewide cleanup plan.  

These plans hinge on lawsuits filed by the Murphy administration against DuPont, 3M, and other companies that used PFAS chemicals.  

The Murphy administration has also filed lawsuits against companies that have been known to use PFAS chemicals for years. 

The data can be found at the DEP's Water Watch database. 

In 2021, water systems across the state showed that they exceeded the new standard for PFAS during annual testing. Most of these were in smaller, well-based systems. Since the discovery, notices have gone out to residents.

The Bergen Record reports many of the 34 community water systems are very small and serve only a few hundred people. Nineteen of these systems serve at least one town or even several. 

According to Garfield officials, it would cost the city $2 million for new filtering equipment to deal with the PFAS levels.  

The Bergen Record also reported voters in Allendale approved the sale of their municipal water system to Suez.

Suez spent almost $5 million through 2021 on PFAS treatment systems at its smaller drinking water systems.  

Now, Suez plans to spend another $25 million into 2023 to complete filtration projects in Highlands communities, Franklin Lakes and eventually Allendale.