Your county health department
Ohio 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.
Ohio's private well pageUranium in Ohio well water, by county
Uranium is rare in tested Ohio wells: in all 8 counties with enough tests, fewer than 5% of tested wells were over the limit. 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 Ohio compares with the rest of the country
Across Ohio, none tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (0 of 216). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 22. No tested Ohio well was over, but your own well can still differ, so test it if you're unsure.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby County | 32 | Rare | |
| Preble County | 27 | Rare | |
| Montgomery County | 20 | Rare | |
| Clark County | 14 | Rare | |
| Greene County | 14 | Rare | |
| Butler County | 12 | Rare | |
| Miami County | 12 | Rare | |
| Champaign County | 10 | Rare |
39 more Ohio counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for uranium, too few to rate.
Download this table (CSV) · Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0
Where to get your well tested for uranium in Ohio
A lab Ohio certifies
Ask for uranium by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by Ohio (PDF)A 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 Ohio
- Well water testing in Ohio: 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 Ohio wells, by county
- Arsenic in Ohio wells, by county
- Manganese in Ohio wells, by county
- Lead in Ohio wells, by county
Questions people ask about uranium in Ohio
Is there uranium in Ohio well water?
Uranium is rare in tested Ohio wells: in all 8 counties with enough tests, fewer than 5% of tested wells were over the limit. Across Ohio, none tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (0 of 216). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 22. No tested Ohio well was over, but your own well can still differ, so test it if you're unsure.
Where can I get my well tested for uranium in Ohio?
Use a lab certified by Ohio 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 Ohio's list of certified labs (a PDF list), 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 Health.