Well Water Nerd

Well water in York County, Virginia

In York County, 2% of 59 tested well samples exceeded the EPA limit for nitrate (10 mg/L), based on public data from USGS Water Quality Portal.

479 test results across 11 contaminants from at least 89 wells, 1940 to 2019; chloride has the most at 102. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.

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

An estimated 3,250 people in York County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 5% of residents.

Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 3% of the 3,250 people on private wells in York County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is 2% to 5%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside York 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.

ContaminantAbove limitSamplesDetectedMedianHighestLimit
Nitrate
1975 to 1998
5922%01610 mg/L
EPA limit
Fluoride
1940 to 2018
8579%0.33.34 mg/L
EPA limit
Chloride
1940 to 2019
no limit102100%722,600250 mg/L
nuisance level
Sodium
1940 to 2018
no limit84100%651,80020 mg/L
health guideline
Iron
1940 to 2018
no limit8394%510130,000300 ug/L
nuisance level
Manganese
1986 to 2018
no limit6184%40690300 ug/L
health guideline

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

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

The contaminants most often above their limit here are nitrate (2% of 59 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 York County

  1. 1
    Nitrate
    2% of 59 local samples were above the limit.
  2. 2
    Coliform bacteria
    Recommended for every private well, every year.
  3. 3
    Radon
    Median local reading is 160 pCi/L.
  4. 4
    Copper
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  5. 5
    Chloride
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  6. 6
    Iron
    Detected in 94% of local samples.
  7. 7
    Manganese
    Detected in 84% of local samples.
  8. 8
    Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
    321 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.

Test your York County 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 $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 Virginia: certified labs, state programs and prices.

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

The rock under York County

Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system

Semiconsolidated sand. Coastal plain sands like these give steady yields at moderate depth. Salt water and sodium are the usual issues near the coast, and nitrate where the water table is shallow; arsenic and radon from bedrock are less common.

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 Virginia

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 York County

Virginia DEQ records 321 leaking underground storage tank sites and 60 reported spills and releases in York County, among 401 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.

321
leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
60
reported spills and releasesMost spills are fuel; a few are solvents or chemicals that reach the water table.
9
lined landfills and transfer facilities
11
other solid waste facilities

Treatment that fits the local profile

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

Fluoride

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Activated alumina; 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 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 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 York County

No water treatment company serves York 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 York County, 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 often should I test a private well in York 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 York 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 Virginia dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.

Sources

  • USGS Water Quality Portal: 479 samples in York 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 3,250 people on private wells in York 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.
  • Virginia DEQ regulated sites: 401 regulated sites located in York County. Petroleum releases and solid waste permits from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Environmental Data Mapper. 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.