Your county health department
Nebraska 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.
Nebraska's private well pageUranium in Nebraska well water, by county
Uranium is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 2 of the 12 Nebraska 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 Nebraska compares with the rest of the country
Across Nebraska, about 1 in 13 tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (38 of 489). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 22. So uranium turns up somewhat more often in Nebraska than in the country as a whole. Check your county below.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotts Bluff County | 14 | Widespread | |
| Dodge County | 11 | Widespread | |
| Phelps County | 10 | Worth checking | |
| York County | 34 | Worth checking | |
| Lincoln County | 20 | Worth checking | |
| Douglas County | 35 | Rare | |
| Washington County | 43 | Rare | |
| Sarpy County | 69 | Rare | |
| Burt County | 21 | Rare | |
| Dakota County | 20 | Rare | |
| Custer County | 13 | Rare | |
| Gosper County | 11 | Rare |
* Likely overstated. These shares come from a narrow set of wells, so they probably run high for the county as a whole:
- York County: All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey in one small part of the county, so it may not match the rest of the county.
58 more Nebraska 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 Nebraska
A lab Nebraska certifies
Ask for uranium by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by NebraskaA 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 Nebraska
- Well water testing in Nebraska: 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 Nebraska wells, by county
- Arsenic in Nebraska wells, by county
- Manganese in Nebraska wells, by county
- Lead in Nebraska wells, by county
Questions people ask about uranium in Nebraska
Is there uranium in Nebraska well water?
Uranium is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 2 of the 12 Nebraska counties with 10 or more tested wells. Across Nebraska, about 1 in 13 tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (38 of 489). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 22. So uranium turns up somewhat more often in Nebraska than in the country as a whole. Check your county below.
Where can I get my well tested for uranium in Nebraska?
Use a lab certified by Nebraska 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 Nebraska'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 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: Department of Water, Energy, and Environment.