Free state testing
Indiana's environment department tests eligible private wells for free. Check which tests it includes before you count on it for arsenic.
Indiana's private well pageArsenic in Indiana well water, by county
Arsenic is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 2 of the 5 Indiana 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 Indiana compares with the rest of the country
Across Indiana, about 2 in 10 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (30 of 166). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. So arsenic turns up somewhat more often in Indiana than in the country as a whole. Check your county 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County | 31 | Widespread | |
| Montgomery County | 37 | Widespread | |
| Wayne County | 14 | Worth checking | |
| Newton County | 17 | Worth checking | |
| Jasper County | 19 | Worth checking |
29 more Indiana counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for arsenic, too few to rate.
Download this table (CSV) · Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0
Where to get your well tested for arsenic in Indiana
A lab Indiana certifies
Ask for arsenic by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by IndianaA 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 Indiana
- Well water testing in Indiana: 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 Indiana wells, by county
- Uranium in Indiana wells, by county
- Manganese in Indiana wells, by county
- Lead in Indiana wells, by county
Questions people ask about arsenic in Indiana
Is there arsenic in Indiana well water?
Arsenic is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 2 of the 5 Indiana counties with 10 or more tested wells. Across Indiana, about 2 in 10 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (30 of 166). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. So arsenic turns up somewhat more often in Indiana than in the country as a whole. Check your county below.
Where can I get my well tested for arsenic in Indiana?
Indiana's environment department tests eligible private wells for free. If that doesn't cover you, use a lab certified by Indiana for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes arsenic from a certified lab.
See Indiana's list of certified labs, or compare mail-in kits.
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: Indiana Department of Health.