Well water in Lincoln County, New Mexico
In Lincoln County, none of 130 tested well samples exceeded the EPA limit for fluoride, based on public data from USGS Water Quality Portal.
The strongest signal is coliform bacteria: Recommended for every private well, every year, too few samples to carry the headline but first on the test list below.
677 test results across 12 contaminants from at least 198 wells, 1906 to 2023; chloride has the most at 239. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
An estimated 1,015 people in Lincoln County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 5% of residents.
Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 4% of the 1,015 people on private wells in Lincoln County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is 3% to 5%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.
What individual samples found
Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Lincoln 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.
| Contaminant | Above limit | Samples | Detected | Median | Highest | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluoride 1906 to 2021 | 130 | 98% | 0.67 | 2 | 4 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Copper 1906 to 2021 | 33 | 61% | 0 | 0.36 | 1.3 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Lead 1981 to 2021 | 32 | 63% | 0 | 6.29 | 15 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Arsenic 1981 to 2021 | 32 | 72% | 0.185 | 3.19 | 10 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Uranium 1981 to 2021 | 26 | 100% | 1.56 | 9.77 | 30 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Nitrate 1954 to 2013 | 24 | 67% | 0.12 | 4.6 | 10 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Chloride 1906 to 2021 | no limit | 239 | 100% | 60 | 2,200 | 250 mg/L nuisance level |
| Sodium 1906 to 2021 | no limit | 63 | 100% | 40.9 | 630 | 20 mg/L health guideline |
| Iron 1927 to 2021 | no limit | 55 | 93% | 166 | 12,400 | 300 ug/L nuisance level |
| Manganese 1981 to 2021 | no limit | 33 | 100% | 20 | 6,180 | 300 ug/L health guideline |
Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: PFOA (5), PFOS (5).
Over time
Share of samples above the limit by period. A cell needs ten samples to show; a comparison needs twenty in each period. Later periods sample fewer wells, and often the ones already known to have a problem.
| Contaminant | before 2000 | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluoride | 0%81 samples | 0%31 samples | 0%11 samples | n/a |
Fluoride has held within a few points between the two most recent periods with enough samples.
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 addressWhat this means
Among contaminants with a federal limit, no tested sample in Lincoln County came back above it. That is reassuring, but sampling is uneven: wells that were never tested are not in this data.
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 Lincoln County
- 1Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 2NitrateRecommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
- 3ChlorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 4ManganeseDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 5FluorideDetected in 98% of local samples.
- 6IronDetected in 93% of local samples.
- 7CopperDetected in 61% of local samples.
Test your Lincoln County well for coliform bacteria, nitrate and chloride
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 New Mexico: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Lincoln County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
The rock under Lincoln County
Not a principal aquifer
The USGS map places this area outside any principal aquifer, which usually means wells here draw from fractured bedrock or thin local deposits rather than a large regional aquifer. Bedrock wells of that kind are where arsenic, radon and uranium turn up, and yields vary from well to well.
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.
Official help in New Mexico
Two places to start that are not selling anything: the state program that answers private well questions, and its list of labs certified to run drinking water tests. A certified lab is the difference between a result you can act on and a number.
- Private Wells, NMED
- Laboratory Certification, NMED
Contamination sources on record in Lincoln County
NMED storage tank facilities and landfills records 24 regulated sites in Lincoln County, among 24 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.
- 24
- registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
Treatment that fits the local profile
Chloride
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Distillation
Manganese
Oxidizing filter (greensand, birm) whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Point-of-use reverse osmosis
Iron
Oxidizing filter whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Aeration plus filtration
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 chloride
Under-sink reverse osmosis system
under-sink or countertop, about $300
Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.
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 Lincoln County
No water treatment company serves Lincoln 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 Lincoln County, and you get an email naming it first.
Common questions
Is there arsenic in well water in Lincoln County?
Arsenic was detected in 72% of 32 public well samples in Lincoln County, and 0% were above the EPA limit of 10 ug/L. Arsenic has no taste or smell; a lab test is the only way to know your level.
How often should I test a private well in Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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 New Mexico dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 677 samples in Lincoln 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 1,015 people on private wells in Lincoln 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.
- NMED storage tank facilities and landfills: 24 regulated sites located in Lincoln County. Underground storage tank facilities and permitted landfills from the New Mexico Environment Department. Retrieved September 18, 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.