Manganese is widespread in Steuben County wells.
1 widespread, 1 worth checking, 5 rare out of 7 health checks.
From 33 wells tested in Steuben County since 2003; 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 2 people 46,521 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)
Likely here. Test your home's air first.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Steuben County compares with New York and the counties around it.
Each result puts Steuben County next to the 8 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is widespread in Steuben County wells.
Manganese8 of 33 wells over
Too few tested to show: Yates.
This one is worth checking in Steuben County.
Arsenic1 of 16 wells over
Too few tested to show: Chemung, Schuyler, Yates.
These 5 are rare in Steuben County.
Nitrate0 of 33 wells over
Too few tested to show: Yates.
Lead0 of 33 wells over
Too few tested to show: Tioga, PA, Yates.
Radon in water0 of 33 wells over
Too few tested to show: Tioga, PA, Yates.
Uranium0 of 33 wells over
Too few tested to show: Tioga, PA, Yates.
Fluoride0 of 33 wells over
Too few tested to show: Yates.
Coliform bacteria turned up in 3 of 16 tested Steuben County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria3 of 16 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Chemung, Schuyler, Tioga, PA, Yates.
E. coli0 of 16 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Chemung, Schuyler, Tioga, PA, Yates.
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Steuben County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 11 of 33 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains11 of 33 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Yates.
Most of the 33 wells tested in Steuben County were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 33 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Steuben 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 Steuben County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- 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 120 feet.
That comes from 2,742 household wells in New York's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 78 to 162 feet deep. Wells as deep as Steuben 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 33 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 Steuben County.
Steuben County is in the EPA's highest radon zone. Radon from well water adds to the radon in your indoor air, so test your air first, and your water too if the air is high. Radon guide
Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 4 town water systems in Steuben County test for PFAS. 2 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 12 ng/L of PFOA. No well in Steuben 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 Steuben County
Is well water in Steuben County safe to drink?
8 of 33 wells tested in Steuben County had manganese over the limit, about 1 in 4. Across New York it's about 1 in 7. That's a bigger share than in 42 of the 50 other New York counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 1 county whose results are likely overstated. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.
Can I get my well tested for free in Steuben 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, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Steuben County.
How deep are wells in Steuben County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 120 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 33 of the 56 other New York counties with enough drilling records.
How does Steuben County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: 1 of the 7 neighboring counties with data had a higher share than Steuben County, at 24%. Chemung had the most, at 26%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Chemung's 26% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Steuben County?
In Steuben County, 3 of 16 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 Steuben County numbers come from
- People on wells: 46,521 in Steuben County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 337 well water samples from 33 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2003 to 2020.
- Well depths: 2,742 New York drilling records for Steuben County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 8 counties that share a border with Steuben County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 4 town water systems in Steuben County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Steuben County is zone 1 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Health, checked November 1, 2026.