Well water in Piute County, Utah
In Piute County, none of 45 tested well samples exceeded the EPA limit for fluoride, based on public data 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.
306 test results across 8 contaminants from at least 16 wells, 1959 to 2021; chloride has the most at 57. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
An estimated 164 people in Piute County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 11% of residents.
Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 1% of the 164 people on private wells in Piute County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is <1% to 1%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.
What individual samples found
Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Piute 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluoride 1961 to 2021 | 45 | 100% | 0.24 | 1.3 | 4 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Nitrate 1962 to 2021 | 44 | 100% | 0.63 | 3.2 | 10 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Uranium 2008 to 2021 | 17 | 100% | 3.21 | 6.5 | 30 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Arsenic 2008 to 2021 | 17 | 100% | 1.9 | 9.1 | 10 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Chloride 1959 to 2021 | no limit | 57 | 100% | 12.4 | 36 | 250 mg/L nuisance level |
| Sodium 1961 to 2021 | no limit | 45 | 100% | 15.6 | 73 | 20 mg/L health guideline |
| Iron 1962 to 2021 | no limit | 41 | 54% | 0 | 200 | 300 ug/L nuisance level |
| Manganese 1980 to 2021 | no limit | 40 | 57% | 0 | 90 | 300 ug/L health guideline |
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 | 0%28 samples | n/a | 0%11 samples | n/a |
| Nitrate | 0%27 samples | n/a | 0%11 samples | n/a |
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
Among contaminants with a federal limit, no tested sample in Piute County 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 Piute County
- 1Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 2NitrateRecommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
- 3FluorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 4ChlorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 5ManganeseDetected in 57% of local samples.
- 6IronDetected in 54% of local samples.
- 7Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)5 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
- 8Metals panel6 hazardous waste sites on record locally.
Test your Piute County well for coliform bacteria, nitrate and fluoride
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 Utah: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Piute County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
The rock under Piute 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 Utah
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.
- Drinking Water Consumer Information, Utah DEQ
- Certifications, Utah Public Health Laboratory
Contamination sources on record in Piute County
Utah DEQ records 5 leaking underground storage tank sites and 6 hazardous waste sites in Piute County, among 23 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.
- 5
- leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
- 6
- hazardous waste sitesSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
- 12
- registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
Free, no obligation
Get on the list for a free in-home water test in Piute County
No water treatment company serves Piute 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 Piute County, and you get an email naming it first.
Common questions
Is there arsenic in well water in Piute County?
Arsenic was detected in 100% of 17 public well samples in Piute 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 Piute 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 Piute 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 Utah dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 306 samples in Piute 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 164 people on private wells in Piute 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.
- Utah DEQ regulated sites: 23 regulated sites located in Piute County. Underground storage tank facilities, CERCLA site assessments and National Priorities List sites from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. 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.