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 lead.
Arkansas's private well pageLead in Arkansas well water, by county
Lead is rare in tested Arkansas wells: in all 19 counties with enough tests, fewer than 5% of tested wells were over the limit. 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.
These tests sample the groundwater, and lead rarely comes from the ground. In a home it mostly comes from plumbing: old solder, brass fittings and some older pumps. So a county's share can't tell you about your pipes. Test a first-draw sample, water that sat in the pipes overnight, from the tap you drink from.
How Arkansas compares with the rest of the country
Across Arkansas, under 1 in 50 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (4 of 578). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. That's less often than in the country as a whole. Counties still differ, so check yours below.
Why it matters: It harms children's growing brains. The CDC says no amount in a child's blood is known to be safe.
Lead in tested wells, county by county
Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA action level of 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garland County | 25 | Rare | |
| Union County | 37 | Rare | |
| Faulkner County | 61 | Rare | |
| Monroe County | 43 | Rare | |
| Van Buren County | 32 | Rare | |
| Craighead County | 29 | Rare | |
| Jefferson County | 28 | Rare | |
| Lonoke County | 28 | Rare | |
| Pulaski County | 24 | Rare | |
| Boone County | 21 | Rare | |
| Sharp County | 20 | Rare | |
| Ouachita County | 19 | Rare | |
| White County | 18 | Rare | |
| Cleburne County | 16 | Rare | |
| Howard County | 14 | Rare | |
| Fulton County | 13 | Rare | |
| Conway County | 12 | Rare | |
| Pike County | 12 | Rare | |
| Crawford County | 11 | Rare |
41 more Arkansas counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for lead, too few to rate.
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Where to get your well tested for lead in Arkansas
A lab Arkansas certifies
Ask for lead 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 lead.
Compare kitsKeep reading about wells in Arkansas
- Well water testing in Arkansas: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
- Lead in well water: where it comes from, what it does and how to remove it
- Nitrate in Arkansas wells, by county
- Arsenic in Arkansas wells, by county
- Uranium in Arkansas wells, by county
- Manganese in Arkansas wells, by county
Questions people ask about lead in Arkansas
Is there lead in Arkansas well water?
Lead is rare in tested Arkansas wells: in all 19 counties with enough tests, fewer than 5% of tested wells were over the limit. Across Arkansas, under 1 in 50 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (4 of 578). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. 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 lead 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 lead 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 action level of 15 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.