Free testing, with limits
Free PFAS testing in New York is limited to a pilot in 6 counties. Check which tests it includes before you count on it for lead.
New York's private well pageLead in New York well water, by county
Lead is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 1 of the 52 New York 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.
These tests sample the groundwater, and lead rarely comes from the ground. In a home it mostly comes from plumbing: old solder, brass fittings and some older pumps. So a county's share can't tell you about your pipes. Test a first-draw sample, water that sat in the pipes overnight, from the tap you drink from.
How New York compares with the rest of the country
Across New York, about 1 in 40 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (34 of 1,347). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. So lead turns up somewhat more often in New York than in the country as a whole. Check your county below.
Why it matters: It harms children's growing brains. The CDC says no amount in a child's blood is known to be safe.
Lead in tested wells, county by county
Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA action level of 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westchester County | 44 | Widespread | |
| Queens County | 103 | Worth checking | |
| Kings County | 35 | Worth checking | |
| Suffolk County | 69 | Rare | |
| Ulster County | 62 | Rare | |
| Tompkins County | 56 | Rare | |
| St. Lawrence County | 43 | Rare | |
| Saratoga County | 40 | Rare | |
| Essex County | 33 | Rare | |
| Steuben County | 33 | Rare | |
| Broome County | 31 | Rare | |
| Delaware County | 27 | Rare | |
| Allegany County | 26 | Rare | |
| Cattaraugus County | 26 | Rare | |
| Chautauqua County | 25 | Rare | |
| Jefferson County | 25 | Rare | |
| New York County | 25 | Rare | |
| Oneida County | 25 | Rare | |
| Warren County | 24 | Rare | |
| Herkimer County | 23 | Rare | |
| Richmond County | 23 | Rare | |
| Erie County | 22 | Rare | |
| Lewis County | 22 | Rare | |
| Oswego County | 22 | Rare | |
| Clinton County | 21 | Rare | |
| Nassau County | 20 | Rare | |
| Chemung County | 19 | Rare | |
| Chenango County | 19 | Rare | |
| Schoharie County | 18 | Rare | |
| Franklin County | 17 | Rare | |
| Hamilton County | 17 | Rare | |
| Livingston County | 17 | Rare | |
| Sullivan County | 17 | Rare | |
| Washington County | 17 | Rare | |
| Madison County | 16 | Rare | |
| Monroe County | 16 | Rare | |
| Onondaga County | 16 | Rare | |
| Tioga County | 16 | Rare | |
| Wyoming County | 16 | Rare | |
| Ontario County | 15 | Rare | |
| Otsego County | 15 | Rare | |
| Cortland County | 13 | Rare | |
| Fulton County | 13 | Rare | |
| Rensselaer County | 13 | Rare | |
| Albany County | 12 | Rare | |
| Cayuga County | 12 | Rare | |
| Orange County | 12 | Rare | |
| Schenectady County | 12 | Rare | |
| Wayne County | 11 | Rare | |
| Genesee County | 10 | Rare | |
| Greene County | 10 | Rare | |
| Schuyler County | 10 | Rare |
10 more New York counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for lead, too few to rate.
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Where to get your well tested for lead in New York
A lab New York certifies
Ask for lead by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by New YorkA mail-in kit
Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include lead.
Compare kitsKeep reading about wells in New York
- Well water testing in New York: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
- Lead in well water: where it comes from, what it does and how to remove it
- Nitrate in New York wells, by county
- Arsenic in New York wells, by county
- Uranium in New York wells, by county
- Manganese in New York wells, by county
- Radon in New York wells, by county
Questions people ask about lead in New York
Is there lead in New York well water?
Lead is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 1 of the 52 New York counties with 10 or more tested wells. Across New York, about 1 in 40 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (34 of 1,347). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. So lead turns up somewhat more often in New York than in the country as a whole. Check your county below.
Where can I get my well tested for lead in New York?
Free PFAS testing in New York is limited to a pilot in 6 counties. If that doesn't cover you, use a lab certified by New York for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes lead from a certified lab.
See New York'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 action level of 15 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 Health.