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Manganese is widespread in Cecil County wells.

1 widespread, 1 worth checking, 4 rare out of 6 health checks.

From 67 wells tested in Cecil County since 2001; your own well needs its own test. How to read this

Tested wells over the limit CecilMaryland
Manganese56%37 of 66Arsenic7%1 of 14Nitrate0%0 of 12Lead0%0 of 64Fluoride0%0 of 62Uranium0%0 of 61
GermsTest every year, whatever the chart says
Coliform bacteria0%0 of 4E. coli0%0 of 4
StainsNot a health risk
Iron stains77%51 of 66

Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: radon (6).

Rare: under 5%Worth checking: 5 to 15%Widespread: 15%+

Lab results: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA)

Who drinks from a well here

6 in 10 people 58,187 people

Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.

People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate

How deep wells go here

148 ft Near the surface: fertilizer, germs Deeper: arsenic, uranium from rock 300 ft

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 Cecil County compares with Maryland and the counties around it.

Each result puts Cecil County next to the 5 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.

This one is widespread in Cecil County wells.

Manganese37 of 66 wells over

About 6 in 10 wells tested here from 2001 to 2022 were over the EPA health advisory of 0.3 mg/L, against about 2 in 10 across Maryland. Half the results were under 0.6 mg/L, and the top 1 in 10 were 136 mg/L or more. That's the highest share among the 18 Maryland counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Cecil and its neighbors
Cecil56%
New Castle, DE24%
Lancaster, PA21%
Kent4%
Chester, PA1%

* Likely overstated, so we don't rank it.

Too few tested to show: Harford.

Manganese guide

This one is worth checking in Cecil County.

Arsenic1 of 14 wells over

1 of 14 wells tested here from 2001 to 2022 was over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L, against about 1 in 12 across Maryland. At least half the results were too low for the lab to measure, and the top 1 in 10 were 3.5 µg/L or more. That's a bigger share than in 8 of the 15 other Maryland counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Cecil and its neighbors
Kent30%
New Castle, DE20%
Cecil7%
Chester, PA0%
Lancaster, PA0%

Too few tested to show: Harford.

Arsenic guide

These 4 are rare in Cecil County.

Nitrate0 of 12 wells over

None of the 12 wells tested here from 2001 to 2022 were over the EPA limit of 10 mg/L, against about 1 in 10 across Maryland. Half the results were under 1.5 mg/L, and the top 1 in 10 were 3.5 mg/L or more. Cecil County had none, while 11 of the 17 other Maryland counties with 10 or more tested wells had at least one, leaving out 1 county whose results are likely overstated.

Cecil and its neighbors
Kent55%
Lancaster, PA50%
Chester, PA14%
New Castle, DE7%
Cecil0%
Harford0%

* Likely overstated, so we don't rank it.

Nitrate guide

Lead0 of 64 wells over

None of the 64 wells tested here from 2001 to 2022 were over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L, against under 1 in 100 across Maryland. Cecil County had none, while 1 of the 13 other Maryland counties with 10 or more tested wells had at least one.

Cecil and its neighbors
Chester, PA1%
Cecil0%
Lancaster, PA0%

Too few tested to show: Harford, Kent, New Castle, DE.

Lead guide

Fluoride0 of 62 wells over

None of the 62 wells tested here from 2001 to 2022 were over the EPA limit of 4 mg/L, against under 1 in 100 across Maryland. At least half the results were too low for the lab to measure, and the top 1 in 10 were 0.45 mg/L or more. Cecil County had none, while 1 of the 17 other Maryland counties with 10 or more tested wells had at least one.

Cecil and its neighbors
Cecil0%
Chester, PA0%
Kent0%
Lancaster, PA0%
New Castle, DE0%

Too few tested to show: Harford.

Uranium0 of 61 wells over

None of the 61 wells tested here from 2001 to 2022 were over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L, against none across Maryland. Cecil County had none, and neither did any of the 9 other Maryland counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Cecil and its neighbors
Cecil0%
Chester, PA0%
Lancaster, PA0%

Too few tested to show: Harford, Kent, New Castle, DE.

Uranium guide

Too few Cecil County wells were tested for this one.

Radon in water6 wells tested

Only 6 wells here were tested from 2001 to 2020, too few to say how common it is. Across Maryland it's about 1 in 10.

Radon guide

None of the 4 Cecil County wells tested for bacteria had it, but every well needs a yearly test.

Coliform bacteria0 of 4 wells had it

None of the 4 wells tested here from 2001 to 2022 had coliform bacteria, against about 4 in 10 across Maryland.

Bacteria guide

E. coli0 of 4 wells had it

None of the 4 wells tested here from 2001 to 2022 had E. coli, against about 1 in 7 across Maryland.

E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Cecil County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.

Bacteria guide

Iron reached staining levels in 51 of 66 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.

Iron stains51 of 66 wells had it

About 8 in 10 wells tested here from 2001 to 2022 had enough iron to stain (0.3 mg/L), against about 4 in 10 across Maryland.

Cecil and its neighbors
Cecil77%
New Castle, DE46%
Kent19%
Harford12%
Chester, PA8%
Lancaster, PA7%

Iron guide

Cecil County has 67 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2010s.

6 wells had a test in the 2000s, 59 in the 2010s and 3 since 2020.

Only 3 of the 67 wells have a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.

Most Cecil 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 4 things to check in Cecil County.

  • Bacteria
  • Nitrate
  • Manganese
  • Arsenic

What Maryland offers well owners

  • Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Maryland. Maryland's private well page
  • Certified labsMaryland's list of certified labs
  • Well recordsWe didn't find an online search.
  • New wellsSince October 1, 2024, Md. Code, Real Property 10-713 requires a contract for sale of property with a private well to make well water quality testing a condition of sale, with both parties certifying they reviewed the results.

Half the household wells here are shallower than 148 feet.

That comes from 22,194 household wells in Maryland's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 98 to 230 feet deep. Wells as deep as Cecil 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 are shallower than in 17 of the 23 other Maryland counties with enough drilling records.

How to find your own well's depth

Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database

Here's what we know about radon and PFAS in Cecil County.

Cecil 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 4 town water systems in Cecil 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 23 ng/L of PFOA. No well in Cecil 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

Next door to Cecil County
Lancaster, PAChester, PAHarfordNew Castle, DE
Elsewhere in Maryland
Anne ArundelBaltimoreCarrollFrederick

All of Maryland

Get a yearly reminder to test your Cecil County well

We'll email you a copy of this page now and one reminder a year. Nothing else. Privacy

Questions people ask about well water in Cecil County

Is well water in Cecil County safe to drink?

37 of 66 wells tested in Cecil County had manganese over the limit, about 6 in 10. Across Maryland it's about 2 in 10. That's the highest share among the 18 Maryland counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.

Where can I get my well tested in Cecil County?

Use a lab Maryland has certified for drinking water. Maryland's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Cecil County.

How deep are wells in Cecil County?

Half the household wells here are shallower than 148 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 17 of the 23 other Maryland counties with enough drilling records.

How does Cecil County compare with the counties around it?

For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: Cecil County, at 56%, had a higher share than all 4 neighboring counties with data. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so New Castle, DE's 24% is worth knowing about if you live near it.

How often should I test my well in Cecil County?

None of the 4 wells tested for bacteria in Cecil County had it, but the CDC still says to test for bacteria and nitrate every year, and right away after a flood, a repair, or any change in taste or smell.

By the Tested Water teamData from the USGS, EPA and Maryland Department of the EnvironmentUpdated November 8, 2026

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Where the Cecil County numbers come from

  • People on wells: 58,187 in Cecil County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
  • Lab tests: 373 well water samples from 67 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2001 to 2022.
  • Well depths: 22,194 Maryland drilling records for Cecil County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
  • Neighboring counties: the 5 counties that share a border with Cecil County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
  • PFAS: EPA tests of 4 town water systems in Cecil County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
  • Radon: Cecil County is zone 2 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
  • State programs and links: Maryland Department of the Environment, checked November 1, 2026.
Download this county's data (CSV)How we read these numbersReport an error
One lab test covers what to check in Cecil CountyFind a lab test