Uranium is widespread in Pottawatomie County wells.

1 widespread, 1 worth checking, 5 rare out of 7 health checks.

From 75 wells tested in Pottawatomie County since 2001; your own well needs its own test. How to read this

Tested wells over the limit PottawatomieOklahoma

Uranium16%8 of 49 Manganese9%6 of 70 Nitrate4%2 of 53 Arsenic2%1 of 55 Fluoride0%0 of 65 Radon0%0 of 18 Lead0%0 of 49

GermsTest every year, whatever the chart says

Coliform bacteria0%0 of 1 E. coli0%0 of 1

StainsNot a health risk

Iron stains8%5 of 65

Rare: under 5%Worth checking: 5 to 15%Widespread: 15%+

Lab results: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA)

Show bacteria and iron

Who drinks from a well here

1 in 2 people 29,577 people

Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.

People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate

How deep wells go here

Deep wells: fewer surface germs, more minerals from the rock.

Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database

Radon risk (a gas from rock)

LowMiddleHigh

Less likely, but the EPA still says test your air.

Radon zones: EPA map

Here's how Pottawatomie County compares with Oklahoma and the counties around it.

Each result puts Pottawatomie County next to the 7 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.

This one is widespread in Pottawatomie County wells.

Uranium8 of 49 wells over

About 2 in 10 wells tested here from 2005 to 2018 were over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L, against about 1 in 11 across Oklahoma. Half the results were under 3.7 µg/L, and the top 1 in 10 were 55 µg/L or more. That's the highest share among the 5 Oklahoma counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Pottawatomie and its neighbors

Pottawatomie16%

Cleveland12%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, McClain, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Pontotoc, Seminole.

Uranium guide

This one is worth checking in Pottawatomie County.

Manganese6 of 70 wells over

About 1 in 12 wells tested here from 2002 to 2018 were over the EPA health advisory of 0.3 mg/L, against about 1 in 21 across Oklahoma. At least half the results were too low for the lab to measure, and the top 1 in 10 were 0.15 mg/L or more. That's a bigger share than in 25 of the 31 other Oklahoma counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 1 county whose results are likely overstated.

Pottawatomie and its neighbors

Seminole16%

Pontotoc14%

Pottawatomie9%

Oklahoma6%

Cleveland3%

Lincoln0%

Too few tested to show: McClain, Okfuskee.

Manganese guide

These 5 are rare in Pottawatomie County.

Nitrate2 of 53 wells over

2 of 53 wells tested here from 2001 to 2018 were over the EPA limit of 10 mg/L, against about 1 in 8 across Oklahoma. Half the results were under 0.55 mg/L, and the top 1 in 10 were 21 mg/L or more. That's a smaller share than in 28 of the 39 other Oklahoma counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Pottawatomie and its neighbors

Pontotoc20%

Lincoln6%

Pottawatomie4%

Oklahoma1%

Cleveland0%

Seminole0%

Too few tested to show: McClain, Okfuskee.

Nitrate guide

Arsenic1 of 55 wells over

1 of 55 wells tested here from 2003 to 2018 was over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L, against about 2 in 10 across Oklahoma. At least half the results were too low for the lab to measure, and the top 1 in 10 were 4.8 µg/L or more. That's a bigger share than in 3 of the 6 other Oklahoma counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Pottawatomie and its neighbors

Cleveland55%

Oklahoma19%

Pottawatomie2%

Lincoln0%

Too few tested to show: McClain, Okfuskee, Pontotoc, Seminole.

Arsenic guide

Fluoride0 of 65 wells over

None of the 65 wells tested here from 2002 to 2018 were over the EPA limit of 4 mg/L, against under 1 in 100 across Oklahoma. Half the results were under 0.28 mg/L, and the top 1 in 10 were 1.1 mg/L or more. Pottawatomie County had none, while 3 of the 32 other Oklahoma counties with 10 or more tested wells had at least one.

Pottawatomie and its neighbors

Cleveland1%

Lincoln0%

Oklahoma0%

Pontotoc0%

Pottawatomie0%

Seminole0%

Too few tested to show: McClain, Okfuskee.

Radon in water0 of 18 wells over

None of the 18 wells tested here from 2011 to 2018 were over 4,000 pCi/L, a level the EPA proposed, against none across Oklahoma. Half the results were under 278 pCi/L, and the top 1 in 10 were 1,680 pCi/L or more.

Radon guide

Lead0 of 49 wells over

None of the 49 wells tested here from 2005 to 2018 were over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L, against none across Oklahoma. At least half the results were too low for the lab to measure, and the top 1 in 10 were 0.21 µg/L or more. Pottawatomie County had none, and neither did any of the 4 other Oklahoma counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Pottawatomie and its neighbors

Cleveland0%

Pottawatomie0%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, McClain, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Pontotoc, Seminole.

Lead guide

None of the 1 Pottawatomie County wells tested for bacteria had it, but every well needs a yearly test.

Coliform bacteria0 of 1 wells had it

None of the 1 wells tested here in 2018 had coliform bacteria, against about 3 in 10 across Oklahoma.

Bacteria guide

E. coli0 of 1 wells had it

None of the 1 wells tested here in 2018 had E. coli, against about 1 in 7 across Oklahoma.

E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Pottawatomie County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.

Bacteria guide

Iron reached staining levels in 5 of 65 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.

Iron stains5 of 65 wells had it

About 1 in 13 wells tested here from 2002 to 2018 had enough iron to stain (0.3 mg/L), against about 1 in 7 across Oklahoma.

Pottawatomie and its neighbors

Seminole56%

Lincoln25%

Pontotoc21%

Cleveland17%

Oklahoma9%

Pottawatomie8%

Too few tested to show: McClain, Okfuskee.

Iron guide

Pottawatomie County has 75 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2010s.

32 wells had a test in the 2000s and 46 in the 2010s.

None of the 75 wells has a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.

Most Pottawatomie 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 5 things to check in Pottawatomie County.

Bacteria
Nitrate
Uranium
Manganese
Arsenic

What Oklahoma offers well owners

Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Oklahoma. Oklahoma's private well page
Certified labsOklahoma's list of certified labs
Well recordsOklahoma's well record search

Half the household wells here are shallower than 160 feet.

That comes from 4,338 household wells in Oklahoma's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 80 to 185 feet deep. Wells as deep as Pottawatomie 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 go deeper than in 47 of the 75 other Oklahoma counties with enough drilling records.

Look up your own well's depth in Oklahoma'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 Pottawatomie County.

Pottawatomie County is in the EPA's lowest radon zone, so radon from well water is unlikely to be a problem. Radon guide

Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 3 town water systems in Pottawatomie County test for PFAS. 1 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 6.0 ng/L of PFOS. No well in Pottawatomie 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

Next door to Pottawatomie County

Oklahoma Cleveland

Elsewhere in Oklahoma

Logan Garfield

All of Oklahoma

Questions people ask about well water in Pottawatomie County

Is well water in Pottawatomie County safe to drink?

8 of 49 wells tested in Pottawatomie County had uranium over the limit, about 2 in 10. Across Oklahoma it's about 1 in 11. That's the highest share among the 5 Oklahoma counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for uranium before you count on it.

Where can I get my well tested in Pottawatomie County?

Use a lab Oklahoma has certified for drinking water. Oklahoma's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, uranium, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Pottawatomie County.

How deep are wells in Pottawatomie County?

Half the household wells here are shallower than 160 feet. Typical household wells here go deeper than in 47 of the 75 other Oklahoma counties with enough drilling records.

How does Pottawatomie County compare with the counties around it?

For uranium, the share of tested wells over the limit: Cleveland, the one neighbor with data, came in lower than Pottawatomie County, at 12% against 16%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Cleveland's 12% is worth knowing about if you live near it.

How often should I test my well in Pottawatomie County?

None of the 1 wells tested for bacteria in Pottawatomie 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.

By the Tested Water teamData from the USGS, EPA and Department of Environmental QualityUpdated November 8, 2026

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Where the Pottawatomie County numbers come from

People on wells: 29,577 in Pottawatomie County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
Lab tests: 640 well water samples from 75 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2001 to 2018.
Well depths: 4,338 Oklahoma drilling records for Pottawatomie County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
Neighboring counties: the 7 counties that share a border with Pottawatomie County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
PFAS: EPA tests of 3 town water systems in Pottawatomie County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
Radon: Pottawatomie County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
State programs and links: Department of Environmental Quality, checked November 1, 2026.

Download this county's data (CSV)How we read these numbers Report an error