Well water in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
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Testing strongly recommended
tested well samples in Rio Arriba County exceeded the EPA limit for arsenic (10 ug/L), based on public data from USGS Water Quality Portal.
The strongest signal is uranium: 30% of 20 local samples were above the limit, too few samples to carry the headline but first on the test list below.
689 test results across 15 contaminants from at least 130 wells, 1938 to 2025; chloride has the most at 136. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
An estimated 15,002 people in Rio Arriba County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 38% of residents.
Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 11% of the 15,002 people on private wells in Rio Arriba County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is 8% to 14%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.
What individual samples found
Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Rio Arriba 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uranium 2014 to 2025 | 20 | 95% | 5.24 | 357 | 30 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Arsenic 1967 to 2025 | 32 | 88% | 3.2 | 47.7 | 10 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Nitrate 1938 to 2025 | 112 | 95% | 0.435 | 73 | 10 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Fluoride 1938 to 2025 | 109 | 100% | 0.6 | 7.16 | 4 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Copper 1967 to 2025 | 26 | 88% | 0.006 | 0.15 | 1.3 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Radium (226 + 228) 2014 to 2017 | 10 | 60% | 0.4 | 3.5 | 5 pCi/L EPA limit | |
| Chloride 1938 to 2025 | no limit | 136 | 100% | 10 | 5,630 | 250 mg/L nuisance level |
| Sodium 1938 to 2025 | no limit | 84 | 100% | 165 | 3,750 | 20 mg/L health guideline |
| Iron 1938 to 2025 | no limit | 80 | 76% | 40 | 8,000 | 300 ug/L nuisance level |
| Manganese 1959 to 2025 | no limit | 53 | 79% | 20 | 2,500 | 300 ug/L health guideline |
Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: E. coli (5), Lead (7), PFOA (5), PFOS (5), Radon (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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate | 4%80 samples | n/a | 0%10 samples | 14%22 samples |
| Fluoride | 1%80 samples | n/a | n/a | 8%24 samples |
Nitrate above the limit in Rio Arriba County rose from 4% of 80 samples before 2000 to 14% of 22 in the 2020s.
Fluoride above the limit in Rio Arriba County rose from 1% of 80 samples before 2000 to 8% of 24 in the 2020s.
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
The contaminants most often above their limit here are uranium (30% of 20 samples), arsenic (28% of 32 samples), and nitrate (5% of 112 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 Rio Arriba County
- 1Uranium30% of 20 local samples were above the limit.
- 2Arsenic28% of 32 local samples were above the limit.
- 3Nitrate5% of 112 local samples were above the limit.
- 4Fluoride3% of 109 local samples were above the limit.
- 5RadonMedian local reading is 420 pCi/L.
- 6E. coliAbove the limit in 2 of 5 local samples; too few to quote a rate.
- 7LeadAbove the limit in 1 of 7 local samples; too few to quote a rate.
Test your Rio Arriba County well for uranium, arsenic and nitrate
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 Rio Arriba County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
The rock under Rio Arriba County
Colorado Plateaus aquifers
Sandstone. Sandstone wells draw from pore space in the rock and tend to be dependable. Iron, manganese and hardness are common, and some sandstones carry arsenic or radium, so a first test should include both.
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 Rio Arriba County
NMED storage tank facilities and landfills records 31 regulated sites in Rio Arriba County, among 31 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.
- 31
- 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
Uranium
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange; Whole-house anion exchange
Arsenic
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Adsorptive media (iron-based) whole-house; Anion exchange
Nitrate
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange; Distillation
Fluoride
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Activated alumina; Distillation
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 uranium
Under-sink reverse osmosis system
under-sink or countertop, about $300
Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.
For uranium
Whole-house arsenic and uranium filter
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $2,500
Adsorptive iron-based media; sized to your well yield.
For arsenic
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
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Common questions
Is there arsenic in well water in Rio Arriba County?
Arsenic was detected in 88% of 32 public well samples in Rio Arriba County, and 28% 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 Rio Arriba 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 Rio Arriba 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: 689 samples in Rio Arriba 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 15,002 people on private wells in Rio Arriba 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: 31 regulated sites located in Rio Arriba 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.