Well Water Nerd

Well water in Milo, New York

In Milo, chloride was detected in 100% of 267 tested well samples 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.

320 test results across 12 contaminants from at least 18 wells, 1966 to 2007; chloride has the most at 267. Data refreshed September 3, 2026.

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

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Milo. 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
1973 to 2007
1681%0.1356.610 mg/L
EPA limit
Fluoride
1966 to 2007
13100%0.31.54 mg/L
EPA limit
Chloride
1966 to 2007
no limit267100%19314,200250 mg/L
nuisance level
Sodium
1966 to 2007
no limit14100%3552020 mg/L
health guideline

Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Arsenic (1), E. coli (1), Lead (1), Copper (1), Uranium (1), Iron (2), Manganese (2), Radon (1).

Closer than the town

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.

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What this means

Among contaminants with a federal limit, no tested sample in Milo 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 Milo

  1. 1
    Coliform bacteria
    Recommended for every private well, every year.
  2. 2
    Radon
    Median local reading is 90 pCi/L.
  3. 3
    Nitrate
    Recommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
  4. 4
    Fluoride
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  5. 5
    Copper
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  6. 6
    Chloride
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  7. 7
    Iron
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  8. 8
    Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
    4 hazardous waste sites on record locally.
  9. 9
    Metals panel
    4 hazardous waste sites on record locally.

Test your Milo well for coliform bacteria, radon 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 York: certified labs, state programs and prices.

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

Wells in Milo

148 domestic wells in Milo are on record with the state. the typical well is 120 feet deep (one in ten goes past 221 feet).

Find your own well's report

The state keeps the driller's report for most wells drilled since 1984. It tells you how deep your well is, where bedrock starts, and how much water it makes, which decides what treatment can work.

  1. Open NYSDEC water well completion reports and choose Water Well.
  2. The report lists depth, depth to bedrock, cased depth, yield and the driller.

Drillers have filed reports with the state since April 2000; a well drilled before then usually has no record.

The rock under Milo

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 town centroid. A single well can sit in a different unit, especially near a boundary.

Official help in New York

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.

Contamination sources on record in Milo

NYSDEC remediation sites records 4 hazardous waste sites in Milo, among 6 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.

4
hazardous waste sitesSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
2
other remediation projects

Treatment that fits the local profile

Chloride

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; 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 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 Milo

No water treatment company serves Milo 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 Milo, 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 deep are wells in Milo?

The typical domestic well in Milo is 120 feet deep, based on 148 wells reported to the state. One in ten is deeper than 221 feet.

How often should I test a private well in Milo?

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.

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

Sources

  • USGS Water Quality Portal: 320 samples in Milo. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
  • NYSDEC water well completion reports: 156 well records in Milo, 148 domestic. Water well completion reports filed with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Water Well Contractor Program since 2000. Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. Retrieved September 16, 2026.
  • NYSDEC remediation sites: 6 regulated sites located in Milo. State Superfund, brownfield, voluntary cleanup, RCRA and spill remediation sites from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Remediation Sites database. Retrieved September 16, 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.