Well water in Lucas County, Ohio
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Testing recommended
tested well samples in Lucas County exceeded the EPA limit for lead (15 ug/L), based on public data from USGS Water Quality Portal.
5,078 test results across 10 contaminants from at least 97 wells, 1978 to 1999; chloride has the most at 2,303. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
An estimated 16,920 people in Lucas County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 4% of residents.
Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 10% of the 16,920 people on private wells in Lucas 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 Lucas 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead 1987 to 1999 | 50 | 18% | 0 | 20 | 15 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Nitrate 1978 to 1999 | 153 | 40% | 0 | 11 | 10 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Fluoride 1978 to 1999 | 96 | 80% | 0.2 | 2.2 | 4 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Copper 1987 to 1999 | 50 | 22% | 0 | 0.06 | 1.3 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Arsenic 1987 to 1996 | 45 | 47% | 0 | 9 | 10 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Uranium 1987 | 24 | 88% | 0.135 | 6.7 | 30 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Chloride 1978 to 1999 | no limit | 2,303 | 100% | 71 | 1,020 | 250 mg/L nuisance level |
| Sodium 1978 to 1999 | no limit | 2,199 | 100% | 22 | 490 | 20 mg/L health guideline |
| Iron 1978 to 1999 | no limit | 79 | 97% | 300 | 5,500 | 300 ug/L nuisance level |
| Manganese 1978 to 1999 | no limit | 79 | 95% | 21 | 1,800 | 300 ug/L health guideline |
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 lead (6% of 50 samples) and nitrate (1% of 153 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 Lucas County
- 1Lead6% of 50 local samples were above the limit.
- 2Nitrate1% of 153 local samples were above the limit.
- 3Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 4ChlorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 5IronDetected in 97% of local samples.
- 6ManganeseDetected in 95% of local samples.
- 7FluorideDetected in 80% of local samples.
- 8Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)1,835 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
- 9Metals panel66 hazardous waste sites on record locally.
Test your Lucas County well for lead, nitrate and coliform bacteria
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 Ohio: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Lucas County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
Wells in Lucas County
5,938 domestic wells in Lucas County are on record with the state since 1970. 87% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 80 feet deep (one in ten goes past 130 feet).
In a typical Lucas County well, bedrock starts about 57 feet down, the median yield is 10 gallons per minute, 3% of wells yield under 3 gallons per minute and usually need a storage tank.
Bedrock wells are where arsenic, uranium and radon come from: the water sits in fractures in granite and metamorphic rock and picks up whatever the rock carries. That is why testing for those three matters more here than in a dug or gravel well.
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.
- Open ODNR water well log search and choose Water Well.
- The log lists depth, depth to bedrock, casing, static water level, the pump test and the driller.
Ohio has required well logs since 1948, so most drilled wells have one.
The rock under Lucas County
Silurian-Devonian aquifers
Carbonate-rock. Limestone and dolomite move water through cracks and solution channels, sometimes very fast. Bacteria and nitrate can travel from the surface to a well in days, so annual bacteria testing matters more here than most places; hardness is a given.
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 Ohio
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 Water Systems Program, Ohio Department of Health
- Laboratory Certification, Ohio EPA
Contamination sources on record in Lucas County
Ohio EPA records 1,835 leaking underground storage tank sites and 66 hazardous waste sites in Lucas County, among 1,950 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.
- 1,835
- leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
- 66
- hazardous waste sitesSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
- 9
- lined landfills and transfer facilities
- 40
- other remediation projects
Treatment that fits the local profile
Lead
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Certified lead-removal carbon filter; Neutralizing filter to raise pH and stop leaching
Nitrate
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange; Distillation
Chloride
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; 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 lead
Under-sink reverse osmosis system
under-sink or countertop, about $300
Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.
For lead
Acid neutralizing filter
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $1,200
Raises pH so plumbing stops leaching lead and copper.
For lead
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.
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Common questions
How deep are wells in Lucas County?
The typical domestic well in Lucas County is 80 feet deep, based on 5,938 wells reported to the state since 1970. One in ten is deeper than 130 feet. 87% are drilled into bedrock.
Is there arsenic in well water in Lucas County?
Arsenic was detected in 47% of 45 public well samples in Lucas 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 Lucas 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.
Towns in Lucas County
16 towns have fewer than 30 public samples and are included in the Lucas County totals above rather than shown separately: Harbor View village, Harding township, Jerusalem township, Maumee, Oregon, Ottawa Hills village, Providence township, Richfield township, Roche de Boeuf township, Spencer township, Springfield township, Swanton township, Sylvania township, Toledo, Washington township, Waterville township.
Counties near Lucas 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 Ohio dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 5,078 samples in Lucas 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 16,920 people on private wells in Lucas 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.
- Ohio DNR water well logs: 7,948 well records in Lucas County, 5,938 domestic. Water well logs filed with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Water Resources since 1948. Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
- Ohio EPA regulated sites: 1,950 regulated sites located in Lucas County. Remediation sites, leaking underground storage tank releases (BUSTR) and landfills from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Division of State Fire Marshal. Retrieved September 17, 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.