According to a new report from the New York Times, more than 20% of the nation's water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years.

The Act requires communities to deliver safe tap water to local residents. But apparently since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage!

Regulators were informed of each of those violations, but records show that astonishingly fewer than 6% of the systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials.

According to E.P.A. data, in some areas, the amount of chemicals detected in drinking water was 2,000% higher than the legal limit. The E.P.A. administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, has announced a complete overhaul of enforcement of the Clean Water Act, which regulates pollution into waterways.

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