Your county health department
Maryland doesn't run a statewide free testing program that we know of. Some county health departments test wells or sell kits, so call yours first.
Maryland's private well pageUranium in Maryland well water, by county
Uranium is rare in tested Maryland wells: in all 10 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.
How Maryland compares with the rest of the country
Across Maryland, none tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (0 of 327). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 22. No tested Maryland well was over, but your own well can still differ, so test it if you're unsure.
Why it matters: Drinking it for years can harm your kidneys and raises the risk of cancer.
Uranium comes out of the rock and sediment the wells draw from.
Uranium in tested wells, county by county
Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA limit of 30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garrett County | 68 | Rare | |
| Cecil County | 61 | Rare | |
| Anne Arundel County | 21 | Rare | |
| Caroline County | 20 | Rare | |
| Montgomery County | 19 | Rare | |
| Dorchester County | 16 | Rare | |
| Queen Anne's County | 15 | Rare | |
| St. Mary's County | 15 | Rare | |
| Charles County | 10 | Rare | |
| Talbot County | 10 | Rare |
13 more Maryland counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for uranium, too few to rate.
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Where to get your well tested for uranium in Maryland
A lab Maryland certifies
Ask for uranium by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by Maryland (PDF)A mail-in kit
Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include uranium.
Compare kitsKeep reading about wells in Maryland
- Well water testing in Maryland: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
- Uranium in well water: where it comes from, what it does and how to remove it
- Nitrate in Maryland wells, by county
- Arsenic in Maryland wells, by county
- Manganese in Maryland wells, by county
- Lead in Maryland wells, by county
- Radon in Maryland wells, by county
Questions people ask about uranium in Maryland
Is there uranium in Maryland well water?
Uranium is rare in tested Maryland wells: in all 10 counties with enough tests, fewer than 5% of tested wells were over the limit. Across Maryland, none tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (0 of 327). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 22. No tested Maryland well was over, but your own well can still differ, so test it if you're unsure.
Where can I get my well tested for uranium in Maryland?
Use a lab certified by Maryland for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes uranium from a certified lab. Some county health departments test wells too, so call yours first.
See Maryland's list of certified labs (a PDF list), 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 30 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: Maryland Department of the Environment.