Well water in Washington County, Pennsylvania

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Testing strongly recommended

private wells tested between 2007 and 2025 in Washington County had total coliform above the EPA limit (0 MPN/100mL), according to the Penn State water testing lab.

418 private wells tested 2007 to 2025 in state summaries; 629 test results across 12 contaminants from at least 100 wells, 1926 to 2026; iron has the most at 108. Data refreshed September 16, 2026.

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

These are samples homeowners paid to send to the Penn State lab, often because of a suspected problem, so shares above the limit run higher than a random survey would find.

An estimated 65,412 people in Washington County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 31% of residents.

Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that <1% of the 65,412 people on private wells in Washington County draw water above 10 ug/L, from geology and well depth rather than local tests.

What homeowner tests found

Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Lab drinking water summaries: private wells tested and reported to the state, 2007 to 2025. Shares are against the level the state applies to each contaminant, named in the last column; several are stricter than EPA.

Contaminant	Above state level	Wells tested	Median	Highest	State level
Total coliform	68%	418	20.7	1011	0 MPN/100mL
E. coli	29%	418		201	0 MPN/100mL
Manganese	15%	137	10	4,610	50 ug/L
Iron	14%	118	100	19,900	300 ug/L
Lead (first draw)	5%	103		47	15 ug/L
Chloride	4%	164	16.9	565	250 mg/L
Arsenic	<1%	121		11	10 ug/L
Copper	0%	172	0.01	1.04	1.3 mg/L
Nitrate + nitrite as N	0%	117	0.5	6.2	10 mg/L
Sodium		35	49.5	273

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Washington 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 1983 to 2026	5%	21	29%	0	200	15 ug/L EPA limit
Nitrate 1926 to 2026	3%	33	58%	0.02	75	10 mg/L EPA limit
Fluoride 1971 to 2026	2%	94	98%	0.2	5.5	4 mg/L EPA limit
Arsenic 1983 to 2026	0%	21	67%	0.44	4	10 ug/L EPA limit
Copper 1983 to 2026	0%	21	76%	0	0.046	1.3 mg/L EPA limit
Iron 1926 to 2026	no limit	108	96%	180	130,000	300 ug/L nuisance level
Chloride 1926 to 2026	no limit	106	100%	20	1,200	250 mg/L nuisance level
Sodium 1926 to 2026	no limit	106	100%	32	900	20 mg/L health guideline
Manganese 1967 to 2026	no limit	98	89%	30	1,900	300 ug/L health guideline

Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: E. coli (5), Uranium (9), Radon (7).

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	2%84 samples	n/a	n/a	0%10 samples
Nitrate	7%15 samples	n/a	n/a	0%18 samples
Lead	10%10 samples	n/a	n/a	0%11 samples
Arsenic	0%10 samples	n/a	n/a	0%11 samples
Copper	0%10 samples	n/a	n/a	0%11 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 address

What this means

Among homeowners in Washington County who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were total coliform (68% of 418 wells), E. coli (29% of 418 wells), and lead (5% of 103 wells). These are ordinary wells tested by their owners, so the shares are the best available picture of a typical well here, with one caveat: people test more often when they suspect a problem.

Manganese and iron exceed the state's advisory level in a sizable share of wells; these are mostly a taste, staining or diet issue rather than a toxicity one.

What to test for in Washington County

1
Total coliform
68% of 418 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
2
E. coli
29% of 418 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
3
Lead
5% of 103 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
4
Nitrate
3% of 33 local samples were above the limit.
5
Fluoride
2% of 94 local samples were above the limit.
6
Arsenic
<1% of 121 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
7
Radon
Median local reading is 410 pCi/L.
8
Manganese
15% of 137 local wells tested were above the EPA secondary standard.

Test your Washington County well for total coliform, E. coli and lead

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 Washington County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.

Wells in Washington County

1,884 domestic wells in Washington County are on record with the state. 97% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 120 feet deep (one in ten goes past 204 feet).

In a typical Washington County well, bedrock starts about 17 feet down, the median yield is 5 gallons per minute, 32% 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 Washington County

Pennsylvanian 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 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

Total coliform

Inspect and repair the well cap and casing, then shock chlorinate and retest; UV disinfection whole-house; Chlorination system

E. coli

Shock chlorination and fix the well cap or casing; UV disinfection whole-house; Chlorination system

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

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

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 total coliform

Aquasana Rhino Well Water with UV

whole-house, at the point of entry, about $2,871

Whole-house system built for wells: sediment pre-filter, KDF and carbon, and a UV lamp rated to kill 99.99% of bacteria and viruses. It does not remove arsenic, nitrate, uranium or radon.

For E. coli

UV disinfection system

whole-house, at the point of entry, about $900

Fix the well cap and casing first; UV keeps bacteria from returning.

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.

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.

Free, no obligation

Get on the list for a free in-home water test in Washington County

No water treatment company serves Washington 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 Washington County, and you get an email naming it first.

Common questions

How deep are wells in Washington County?

The typical domestic well in Washington County is 120 feet deep, based on 1,884 wells reported to the state. One in ten is deeper than 204 feet. 97% are drilled into bedrock.

Is there arsenic in well water in Washington County?

Arsenic was detected in 67% of 21 public well samples in Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington County

66 towns have fewer than 30 public samples and are included in the Washington County totals above rather than shown separately: Allenport borough, Amwell township, Beallsville borough, Bentleyville borough, Blaine township, Buffalo township, Burgettstown borough, California borough, Canonsburg borough, Canton township, Carroll township, Cecil township, Centerville borough, Charleroi borough, Chartiers township, Claysville borough, Coal Center borough, Cokeburg borough, Cross Creek township, Deemston borough, Donegal township, Donora borough, Dunlevy borough, East Bethlehem township, East Finley township, East Washington borough, Elco borough, Ellsworth borough, Fallowfield township, Finleyville borough, Green Hills borough, Hanover township, Hopewell township, Houston borough, Independence township, Jefferson township, Long Branch borough, Marianna borough, McDonald borough, Midway borough, Monongahela, Morris township, Mount Pleasant township, New Eagle borough, North Bethlehem township, North Charleroi borough, North Franklin township, North Strabane township, Nottingham township, Peters township, Robinson township, Roscoe borough, Smith township, Somerset township, South Franklin township, South Strabane township, Speers borough, Stockdale borough, Twilight borough, Union township, Washington, West Bethlehem township, West Brownsville borough, West Finley township, West Middletown borough, West Pike Run township.

Counties near Washington 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 Pennsylvania dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.

Sources

USGS Water Quality Portal: 629 samples in Washington 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.
Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Lab drinking water summaries: summaries for 10 contaminants in Washington County, up to 418 wells each. County summaries of private water samples tested by the Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory since 2007, published by the College of Agricultural Sciences. Counts are samples, not distinct wells. Shares are against the standard the lab prints: the EPA maximum contaminant level, or the secondary standard for iron, manganese and chloride. Lead is the first-draw result. Medians printed as 0.00 are stored as null because the lab rounds to two decimals. Retrieved September 16, 2026.
USGS national arsenic model (Ayotte 2017): estimated share of 65,412 people on private wells in Washington 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.
Pennsylvania Groundwater Information System (PaGWIS) wells: 4,540 well records in Washington County, 1,884 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.