Arsenic is worth checking in Oneida County wells.
1 worth checking, 6 rare out of 7 health checks.
From 25 wells tested in Oneida County since 2002; 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 5 people 51,494 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 Oneida County compares with New York and the counties around it.
Each result puts Oneida County next to the 5 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is worth checking in Oneida County.
Arsenic2 of 25 wells over
These 6 are rare in Oneida County.
Manganese0 of 25 wells over
Nitrate0 of 25 wells over
Lead0 of 25 wells over
Radon in water0 of 25 wells over
Uranium0 of 25 wells over
Fluoride0 of 25 wells over
Coliform bacteria turned up in 6 of 23 tested Oneida County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria6 of 23 wells had it
E. coli0 of 23 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Oneida County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 8 of 25 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains8 of 25 wells had it
Most of the 25 wells tested in Oneida County were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 25 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Oneida 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 Oneida County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Arsenic
What New York offers well owners
- Free testingThe Private Well PFAS Testing and Mitigation Rebate Pilot Program offers limited free PFAS testing and treatment rebates in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester counties. See the program
- Certified labsNew York's list of certified labs
- Well recordsNew York's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 96 feet.
That comes from 2,951 household wells in New York's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 61 to 152 feet deep. Wells as deep as Oneida 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 46 of the 56 other New York counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in New York'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 Oneida County.
Oneida 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 Oneida County test for PFAS. None found any. No well in Oneida 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 Oneida County
Is well water in Oneida County safe to drink?
2 of 25 wells tested in Oneida County had arsenic over the limit, about 1 in 12. Across New York it's about 1 in 28. That's a bigger share than in 44 of the 49 other New York counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for arsenic before you count on it.
Can I get my well tested for free in Oneida County?
The Private Well PFAS Testing and Mitigation Rebate Pilot Program offers limited free PFAS testing and treatment rebates in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester counties. If not, use a lab New York has certified for drinking water. Ask for bacteria, nitrate and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Oneida County.
How deep are wells in Oneida County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 96 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 46 of the 56 other New York counties with enough drilling records.
How does Oneida County compare with the counties around it?
For arsenic, the share of tested wells over the limit: Oneida County, at 8%, had a higher share than all 5 neighboring counties with data. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Oswego's 5% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Oneida County?
In Oneida County, 6 of 23 tested wells had coliform bacteria, so the CDC's advice matters here: 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 Oneida County numbers come from
- People on wells: 51,494 in Oneida County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 330 well water samples from 25 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2002 to 2022.
- Well depths: 2,951 New York drilling records for Oneida County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 5 counties that share a border with Oneida County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 2 town water systems in Oneida County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Oneida County is zone 2 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Health, checked November 1, 2026.