Nitrate is worth checking in Nye County wells.
1 worth checking, 4 rare out of 5 health checks.
From 76 wells tested in Nye County since 2000; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: arsenic (9), radon (3).
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 3 people 15,563 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 Nye County compares with Nevada and the counties around it.
Each result puts Nye County next to the 9 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is worth checking in Nye County.
Nitrate4 of 65 wells over
Too few tested to show: Esmeralda, Lander, Mineral.
These 4 are rare in Nye County.
Manganese1 of 43 wells over
* Likely overstated, so we don't rank it.
Too few tested to show: Esmeralda, Eureka, Lander, Lincoln.
Uranium0 of 12 wells over
* Likely overstated, so we don't rank it.
Too few tested to show: Esmeralda, Eureka, Lander, Lincoln.
Fluoride0 of 47 wells over
* Likely overstated, so we don't rank it.
Too few tested to show: Esmeralda, Lander, Lincoln.
Lead0 of 12 wells over
Too few tested to show: Esmeralda, Eureka, Lander, Lincoln, Mineral.
Too few Nye County wells were tested for these 2.
Arsenic9 wells tested
Radon in water3 wells tested
None of the 2 Nye County wells tested for bacteria had it, but every well needs a yearly test.
Coliform bacteria0 of 2 wells had it
E. coli0 of 33 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Nye County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 0 of 45 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains0 of 45 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Esmeralda, Eureka, Lander, Lincoln.
Nye County has 76 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2010s.
Only 1 of the 76 wells have a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.
Most Nye 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 Nye County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Arsenic
What Nevada offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Nevada. Nevada's private well page
- Certified labsNevada's list of certified labs
- Well recordsNevada's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 140 feet.
That comes from 13,147 household wells in Nevada's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 140 to 200 feet deep. Wells as deep as Nye 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 12 of the 16 other Nevada counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Nevada'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 Nye County.
Nye 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 3 town water systems in Nye County test for PFAS. None found any. No well in Nye 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 Nye County
Is well water in Nye County safe to drink?
4 of 65 wells tested in Nye County had nitrate over the limit, about 1 in 16. Across Nevada it's about 1 in 16. That's a bigger share than in 9 of the 11 other Nevada counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for nitrate before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Nye County?
Use a lab Nevada has certified for drinking water. Nevada's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Nye County.
How deep are wells in Nye County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 140 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 12 of the 16 other Nevada counties with enough drilling records.
How does Nye County compare with the counties around it?
For nitrate, the share of tested wells over the limit: Nye County, at 6%, had a higher share than all 6 neighboring counties with data. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so White Pine's 4% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Nye County?
None of the 2 wells tested for bacteria in Nye 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.
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Where the Nye County numbers come from
- People on wells: 15,563 in Nye County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 305 well water samples from 76 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2022.
- Well depths: 13,147 Nevada drilling records for Nye County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 9 counties that share a border with Nye County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 3 town water systems in Nye County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Nye County is zone 2 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Division of Environmental Protection, checked November 1, 2026.