Arsenic and uranium are widespread in Scotts Bluff County wells.
2 widespread, 1 worth checking, 3 rare out of 6 health checks.
From 27 wells tested in Scotts Bluff County since 2000; 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 4 people 9,267 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 Scotts Bluff County compares with Nebraska and the counties around it.
Each result puts Scotts Bluff County next to the 5 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
These 2 are widespread in Scotts Bluff County wells.
Arsenic4 of 14 wells over
Too few tested to show: Banner, Box Butte, Morrill, Sioux.
Uranium3 of 14 wells over
Too few tested to show: Banner, Box Butte, Morrill, Sioux.
This one is worth checking in Scotts Bluff County.
Nitrate2 of 25 wells over
Too few tested to show: Box Butte, Sioux.
These 3 are rare in Scotts Bluff County.
Manganese1 of 27 wells over
Too few tested to show: Box Butte, Sioux.
Radon in water0 of 14 wells over
Fluoride0 of 27 wells over
Too few tested to show: Box Butte, Sioux.
Every well needs a bacteria test every year.
No bacteria tests from Scotts Bluff County wells are in the public data. Test every year anyway.
Iron reached staining levels in 0 of 27 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains0 of 27 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Box Butte, Sioux.
Most of the 27 wells tested in Scotts Bluff County were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 27 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Scotts Bluff 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 Scotts Bluff County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Arsenic
- Uranium
What Nebraska offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Nebraska. Nebraska's private well page
- Certified labsNebraska's list of certified labs
- Well recordsNebraska's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 80 feet.
That comes from 1,044 household wells in Nebraska's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 42 to 105 feet deep. Wells as deep as Scotts Bluff 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 82 of the 92 other Nebraska counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Nebraska'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 Scotts Bluff County.
Scotts Bluff 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 Scotts Bluff County test for PFAS. None found any. No well in Scotts Bluff 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 Scotts Bluff County
Is well water in Scotts Bluff County safe to drink?
4 of 14 wells tested in Scotts Bluff County had arsenic over the limit, about 3 in 10. Across Nebraska it's about 1 in 10. That's a bigger share than in 10 of the 11 other Nebraska counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 1 county whose results are likely overstated. So test your own well for arsenic before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Scotts Bluff County?
Use a lab Nebraska has certified for drinking water. Nebraska's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, arsenic and uranium, the tests that matter most in Scotts Bluff County.
How deep are wells in Scotts Bluff County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 80 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 82 of the 92 other Nebraska counties with enough drilling records.
How does Scotts Bluff County compare with the counties around it?
For arsenic, the share of tested wells over the limit: Goshen, WY, the one neighbor with data, came in lower than Scotts Bluff County, at 4% against 29%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Goshen, WY's 4% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Scotts Bluff County?
Scotts Bluff 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 Scotts Bluff County numbers come from
- People on wells: 9,267 in Scotts Bluff County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 165 well water samples from 27 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2002.
- Well depths: 1,044 Nebraska drilling records for Scotts Bluff County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 5 counties that share a border with Scotts Bluff County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 2 town water systems in Scotts Bluff County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Scotts Bluff County is zone 2 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Water, Energy, and Environment, checked November 1, 2026.