Well Water Nerd

Well water in Haskell County, Kansas

1in5

Testing strongly recommended

tested well samples in Haskell County exceeded the EPA limit for nitrate (10 mg/L), based on public data from USGS Water Quality Portal.

490 test results across 12 contaminants from at least 60 wells, 1924 to 2010; nitrate has the most at 96. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.

Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built

An estimated 1,449 people in Haskell County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 36% of residents.

Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 16% of the 1,449 people on private wells in Haskell County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is 13% to 19%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Haskell County. Above limit means above the EPA maximum contaminant level; where EPA has no enforceable limit, the row shows a health guideline or nuisance level instead.

ContaminantAbove limitSamplesDetectedMedianHighestLimit
Nitrate
1924 to 2010
96100%3.023310 mg/L
EPA limit
Fluoride
1941 to 2010
93100%0.71.24 mg/L
EPA limit
Chloride
1924 to 2010
no limit94100%1045250 mg/L
nuisance level
Sodium
1924 to 2010
no limit94100%2273.520 mg/L
health guideline
Iron
1924 to 2010
no limit6087%1308,800300 ug/L
nuisance level
Manganese
1941 to 2010
no limit3171%39.2925300 ug/L
health guideline

Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Uranium (2), Arsenic (9), Lead (4), Copper (4), Radium (226 + 228) (2), Radon (1).

Closer than the county

See the sampled wells near your address

The same records, drawn around one point: which wells within a few miles were sampled and what they found, how deep the wells next to you were drilled, and any leaking tank or cleanup site within a mile.

Check my address

What this means

The contaminants most often above their limit here are nitrate (22% of 96 samples). A well next door can differ sharply from yours because bedrock fractures, well depth and plumbing all matter, so these rates describe the area, not your tap.

Chloride, Iron, and Manganese are widespread in local groundwater. They are mainly a staining and taste problem, but high manganese also carries a health advisory for infants.

What to test for in Haskell County

  1. 1
    Nitrate
    22% of 96 local samples were above the limit.
  2. 2
    Coliform bacteria
    Recommended for every private well, every year.
  3. 3
    Radon
    Median local reading is 960 pCi/L.
  4. 4
    Uranium
    Above the limit in 1 of 2 local samples; too few to quote a rate.
  5. 5
    Fluoride
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  6. 6
    Chloride
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  7. 7
    Iron
    Detected in 87% of local samples.
  8. 8
    Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
    88 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
  9. 9
    Metals panel
    1 hazardous waste site on record locally.

Test your Haskell County well for nitrate, coliform bacteria and radon

Certified lab analysis of your own tap water, bottles and prepaid return shipping included. The Essential well panel covers arsenic, uranium, nitrate, lead, copper, manganese, iron, sodium and bacteria; radon and PFAS are add-ons.

Order the Tap Score well water test kit, from $209Already tested? Upload the report

Just want bacteria checked first? Tap Score coliform and E. coli test, $99. Coliform and E. coli are the tests every well needs every year.

Want a quick look before paying for a lab? Home well water test strips on Amazon check hardness, iron, pH and nitrate in minutes. They are a screen, not a result: arsenic, bacteria, uranium and PFAS need a certified lab.

Affiliate links: the merchant pays us a commission and the price is the same for you. It does not change what the data above says. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Where to get a well tested in Kansas: certified labs, state programs and prices.

Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Haskell County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.

The rock under Haskell County

High Plains aquifer

Unconsolidated sand and gravel. Wells in sand and gravel are usually shallow and productive, and they recharge quickly from the surface. That makes them the most exposed to nitrate, bacteria and anything spilled nearby, and the least likely to carry arsenic or radon from the rock.

Classification from the USGS Principal Aquifers of the United States (national map, 2003 edition, GIS release 2015), read at the county centroid. A single well can sit in a different unit, especially near a boundary.

Contamination sources on record in Haskell County

KDHE records 88 leaking underground storage tank sites and 1 hazardous waste site in Haskell County, among 99 regulated sites in total. Groundwater does not follow property lines, so a well within a few hundred feet of one of these is worth testing for what that site could release.

88
leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
1
hazardous waste siteSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
8
other remediation projects
2
other solid waste facilities

Treatment that fits the local profile

Nitrate

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange; Distillation

Iron

Oxidizing filter whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Aeration plus filtration

Manganese

Oxidizing filter (greensand, birm) whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Point-of-use reverse osmosis

Systems we would look at first

Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, the merchant pays us a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change which products we list or what the data says.

For nitrate

Under-sink reverse osmosis system

under-sink or countertop, about $300

Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.

For nitrate

Aquasana SmartFlow reverse osmosis

under-sink or countertop, about $225

Certified to NSF/ANSI 58 and 53 to reduce arsenic (96%, pentavalent), fluoride (90%), lead (99%), nitrate, nitrite and PFOA/PFOS at the kitchen tap, with a remineralizer.

For iron

Iron and manganese oxidizing filter

whole-house, at the point of entry, about $1,800

Air-injection or greensand media; fixes staining at the source.

Free, no obligation

Get on the list for a free in-home water test in Haskell County

No water treatment company serves Haskell County through Well Water Nerd yet. We are signing licensed companies on county by county: they test at your tap for free, walk you through the numbers, and quote treatment only if something needs fixing. Leave your details and you are first in line. Nothing is shared until a company joins for Haskell County, and you get an email naming it first.

What are you worried about?

The test is free and there is no obligation. No company is named yet; your details stay with us until one joins for your area, and we log the time and address of this request.

Common questions

How often should I test a private well in Haskell County?

Test for bacteria and nitrate every year. Test once for arsenic, uranium, radon, fluoride, manganese and PFAS, then again every three to five years or after any change in taste, color, or plumbing.

Counties near Haskell County

Closest first. Groundwater does not stop at a line on a map, so the next county over is a fair second opinion.

Want the numbers themselves? Download the Kansas dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.

Sources

  • USGS Water Quality Portal: 490 samples in Haskell County. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
  • USGS national arsenic model (Ayotte 2017): estimated share of 1,449 people on private wells in Haskell County above 10 ug/L of arsenic, from geology, well depth and land use. County estimates of domestic well users with arsenic above 10 ug/L from the USGS national logistic regression model (Ayotte, Medalie and Qi, 2017), with private well population from the USGS 2015 county water-use compilation (Dieter and others, 2018). Retrieved September 15, 2026.
  • KDHE regulated sites: 99 regulated sites located in Haskell County. Identified contaminated sites, leaking underground storage tank facilities and solid waste facilities from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Retrieved September 9, 2026.

Non-detects count as samples and are treated as zero when computing medians. Exactly at the limit counts as not above it. A sample belongs to the town containing the well's reported coordinates.