Only 1 health check had enough tested wells in Cowley County, and it came back rare.
The only health check here came back rare.
From 10 wells tested in Cowley County since 2003; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Rare: under 5%Worth checking: 5 to 15%Widespread: 15%+
Lab results: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA)
Who drinks from a well here
1 in 12 people 2,786 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
How deep wells go here
Middle depth: some shelter from the surface, not complete.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Possible here. A home air test is inexpensive.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Cowley County compares with Kansas and the counties around it.
Each result puts Cowley County next to the 7 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
The only health check in Cowley County is rare.
Every well needs a bacteria test every year.
No bacteria tests from Cowley County wells are in the public data. Test every year anyway.
Iron reached staining levels in 0 of 10 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains0 of 10 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Butler, Chautauqua, Elk.
All 10 wells tested in Cowley County were tested in 2003.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 10 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Cowley County wells in these records were tested for research or because someone suspected a problem, which can push the shares above what a typical home well would show (how we read the numbers).
One mail-in lab test covers the 3 things to check in Cowley County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Arsenic
What Kansas offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Kansas. Kansas's private well page
- Certified labsWe didn't find an online list.
- Well recordsKansas's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 82 feet.
That comes from 554 household wells in Kansas's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 35 to 92 feet deep. Wells as deep as Cowley County's are usually better protected from fertilizer and bacteria at the surface, but they can pick up more of what's in the rock, like arsenic and uranium. Typical household wells here go deeper than in 56 of the 104 other Kansas counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Kansas's well record search, or see how to find it.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Here's what we know about radon and PFAS in Cowley County.
Cowley County is in the EPA's middle radon zone. An indoor air test is cheap and tells you whether to look at your water. Radon guide
Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 2 town water systems in Cowley County test for PFAS. 1 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 4.4 ng/L of PFOS. No well in Cowley County has public PFAS results, so the town systems are the best clue to what's in the groundwater nearby. PFAS guide
Radon zones: EPA Map of Radon Zones. PFAS: EPA tests of town water systems, 2023 to 2025
Questions people ask about well water in Cowley County
Is well water in Cowley County safe to drink?
Most tested wells in Cowley County came in under the limits. Of 1 health check with enough tests, fluoride came closest, at 0 of 10 wells over. Every well is different, so test yours for bacteria, nitrate and arsenic.
Where can I get my well tested in Cowley County?
Use a lab Kansas has certified for drinking water. Kansas's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Cowley County.
How deep are wells in Cowley County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 82 feet. Typical household wells here go deeper than in 56 of the 104 other Kansas counties with enough drilling records.
How does Cowley County compare with the counties around it?
For fluoride, the share of tested wells over the limit: Cowley County and all 4 neighboring counties with data had no tested wells over the limit. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Kay, OK's 0% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Cowley County?
Cowley County has no public bacteria results for wells, so follow the CDC's advice: test for bacteria and nitrate every year, and right away after a flood, a repair, or any change in taste or smell.
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Where the Cowley County numbers come from
- People on wells: 2,786 in Cowley County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 20 well water samples from 10 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2003 to 2003.
- Well depths: 554 Kansas drilling records for Cowley County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 7 counties that share a border with Cowley County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 2 town water systems in Cowley County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Cowley County is zone 2 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Kansas Department of Health and Environment, checked November 1, 2026.