Well water in East Lampeter township, Pennsylvania

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Testing strongly recommended

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

81 test results across 10 contaminants from at least 24 wells, 1925 to 1993; nitrate has the most at 46. 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 East Lampeter township. 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
Nitrate 1925 to 1993	63%	46	100%	13	62	10 mg/L EPA limit

Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Fluoride (4), Uranium (2), Arsenic (1), Lead (1), Chloride (6), Radon (6), Iron (6), Sodium (5), Manganese (4).

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

The contaminants most often above their limit here are nitrate (63% of 46 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 and Iron 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 East Lampeter township

1
Nitrate
63% of 46 local samples were above the limit.
2
Coliform bacteria
Recommended for every private well, every year.
3
Radon
Median local reading is 610 pCi/L.
4
Chloride
Detected in 100% of local samples.
5
Iron
Detected in 100% of local samples.
6
Fluoride
Detected in 75% of local samples.

Test your East Lampeter township 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 $209 Already 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 Pennsylvania: certified labs, state programs and prices.

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

Wells in East Lampeter township

442 domestic wells in East Lampeter township are on record with the state. 100% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 250 feet deep (one in ten goes past 500 feet).

In a typical East Lampeter township well, bedrock starts about 19 feet down, the median yield is 10 gallons per minute, 18% 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 PaGWIS (Pennsylvania Geological Survey) and choose Water Well.
The record lists depth, depth to bedrock, yield and use; drillers have reported new wells to the state since 1966.

Pennsylvania has no private well construction standard and does not require testing, so many older wells have no record at all.

The rock under East Lampeter township

Piedmont and Blue Ridge carbonate-rock 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 town centroid. A single well can sit in a different unit, especially near a boundary.

Official help in Pennsylvania

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, PA DEP
Laboratory Accreditation Program, PA DEP

Treatment that fits the local profile

Nitrate

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

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 manganese

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 East Lampeter township

No water treatment company serves East Lampeter township 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 East Lampeter township, and you get an email naming it first.

Common questions

How deep are wells in East Lampeter township?

The typical domestic well in East Lampeter township is 250 feet deep, based on 442 wells reported to the state. One in ten is deeper than 500 feet. 100% are drilled into bedrock.

How often should I test a private well in East Lampeter township?

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 near East Lampeter township

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

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

Sources

USGS Water Quality Portal: 81 samples in East Lampeter township. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
Pennsylvania Groundwater Information System (PaGWIS) wells: 735 well records in East Lampeter township, 442 domestic. Water well records from the Pennsylvania Groundwater Information System, Pennsylvania Geological Survey (DCNR). Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. 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.