Low-cost state testing
Arkansas's state health lab tests well water for bacteria for $17 a sample. Check which tests it includes before you count on it for arsenic.
Arkansas's private well pageArsenic in Arkansas well water, by county
Arsenic is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 1 of the 19 Arkansas counties with 10 or more tested wells. A county's share tells you how likely a problem is nearby. Only a test of your own well tells you what's in it.
How Arkansas compares with the rest of the country
Across Arkansas, about 1 in 45 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (14 of 635). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. That's less often than in the country as a whole. Counties still differ, so check yours below.
Why it matters: Drinking it for years raises the risk of skin, bladder and lung cancer.
Arsenic dissolves out of certain rocks and old sediments, so it can be high even where nobody has polluted anything.
Arsenic in tested wells, county by county
Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L. Counties need 10 or more tested wells to be listed. Widespread means 15% or more, worth checking 5 to 15%, rare under 5%.
| County | Wells tested | Wells over the limit | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lonoke County | 28 | Widespread | |
| Cleburne County | 16 | Worth checking | |
| Jefferson County | 28 | Rare | |
| Monroe County | 43 | Rare | |
| Faulkner County | 84 | Rare | |
| Van Buren County | 77 | Rare | |
| Union County | 37 | Rare | |
| Craighead County | 25 | Rare | |
| Garland County | 25 | Rare | |
| Pulaski County | 24 | Rare | |
| Boone County | 21 | Rare | |
| Sharp County | 20 | Rare | |
| Ouachita County | 19 | Rare | |
| White County | 18 | Rare | |
| Howard County | 14 | Rare | |
| Conway County | 13 | Rare | |
| Fulton County | 12 | Rare | |
| Pike County | 12 | Rare | |
| Crawford County | 11 | Rare |
40 more Arkansas counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for arsenic, too few to rate.
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Where to get your well tested for arsenic in Arkansas
A lab Arkansas certifies
Ask for arsenic by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
How to find a certified labA mail-in kit
Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include arsenic.
Compare kitsKeep reading about wells in Arkansas
- Well water testing in Arkansas: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
- Arsenic in well water: where it comes from, what it does and how to remove it
- Nitrate in Arkansas wells, by county
- Uranium in Arkansas wells, by county
- Manganese in Arkansas wells, by county
- Lead in Arkansas wells, by county
Questions people ask about arsenic in Arkansas
Is there arsenic in Arkansas well water?
Arsenic is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 1 of the 19 Arkansas counties with 10 or more tested wells. Across Arkansas, about 1 in 45 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (14 of 635). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. That's less often than in the country as a whole. Counties still differ, so check yours below.
Where can I get my well tested for arsenic in Arkansas?
Arkansas's state health lab tests well water for bacteria for $17 a sample. If that doesn't cover you, use a lab certified by Arkansas for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes arsenic from a certified lab.
Where these numbers come from
- Lab tests: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA), well samples since 2000. A well counts as over if any of its tests was over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L. Wells tested for studies and monitoring, not a random sample of homes.
- Likely overstated: our own check of who tested the wells, when and where. How we check.
- State programs and links: Department of Health.