77 million Americans are served by a water utility that violated federal standards in 2015

Violations range from failure to sufficiently monitor reservoirs to serving water rife with viruses

The data was gathered by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit conservation advocate

The NRDC argues that stricter enforcement is necessary and billions in investments.

Can you trust that the water flowing from your kitchen faucet is safe to drink? For millions of New Jerseyans, the answer is "no."

About 4.5 million people in New Jersey were drinking water in 2015 from suppliers that had broken federal rules that protect consumers from cancer-causing chemicals and illness-inducing viruses, according to a new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Only three states had more people drinking from water systems that violated the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) than New Jersey in 2015, the same year that the tap water crisis in Flint, Michigan, prompted an outcry about how such a catastrophic failure of oversight could happen in America.

Just Texas (12 million people), Florida (7.5 million) and Pennsylvania (5.6 million) left more of their populations exposed to potentially unhealthy water in their home, at school or at work.

Violating the SDWA doesn't necessarily mean the tap water is dangerous. For most consumers, a breach in the rules means their utility wasn't testing or monitoring the water sufficiently, not that they need to run out and buy bottled water by the gallon.

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Shore consumers were mostly spared from the most serious transgressions.

New Jersey American Water's Coastal North system, which serves more than 360,000 on the Shore, had three violations in 2015, according to the report.

All of Coastal North's failures were related to protecting reservoirs and other surface water supplies from pathogens. It should be noted that no violations alleged any unsafe water was being fed into Coastal North's system.

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The utility disputes that a violation even occurred, telling the Asbury Park Press that the supposed offenses were the result of a miscommunication between the company and the U.S. EPA.

"(The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) corrected this and returned our system status to being in compliance," said Denise Veruti Free, a spokeswoman for American Water.

The state's public water database confirms that the system was returned to compliance on the same day the notice of violation was issued.

How did your water utility perform? Use the map below to find out:

The Lacey Township Municipal Utilities Authority and the Point Pleasant Water Department each had one violation in 2015 for having too much bacteria in their water — the kind of infraction that can lead to diarrhea, cramps, nausea and headaches for their customers.

The rest of the state, especially northern New Jersey, was in even worse shape.

Nowhere were more people drinking from faucets connected to systems that registered a violation for insufficient monitoring of volatile organic chemicals, or VOCs, than New Jersey.

VOCs come from industrial discharge and are linked to liver and kidney problems and cancers when ingested.

The entirety of that comes from violations by United Water New Jersey in Bergen and Hudson counties. United, which is owned by Suez Environment, is one of the biggest systems in the state with nearly 800,000 people served.

The Newark Water Department had four health-based violations, meaning that the water served to its 273,000 customers, was confirmed to be unhealthy.

Nationwide, there were more than 80,000 reported violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act by community water systems. Almost 1 in 4 Americans lives within the territory of one of these non-compliant utilities.

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The ongoing saga of the Flint water crisis provoked a renewed interest in one of the everyday societal achievements that is often taken for granted in America: omnipresent potable water.

Erik Olson, who co-wrote the "Threats on Tap" report, said the country has been putting off investment in its aging water infrastructure for so long that the cost has become astronomical: up to $380 billion.

“We’re living off our great-grandparents' investments," said Olson, who leads the NRDC's health program, during a conference call with reporters this morning. "A lot of these water systems are a 100 years old or older.”

An Asbury Park Press investigation found that four out of five public water systems in New Jersey reported some level of lead in the drinking water delivered to homes, businesses and schools from 2013 through 2015

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Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com