Manganese, arsenic and radon are worth checking in Bucks County wells.
3 worth checking, 4 rare out of 7 health checks.
From 33 wells tested in Bucks 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 6 people 101,797 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Likely here. Test your home's air first.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Bucks County compares with Pennsylvania and the counties around it.
Each result puts Bucks County next to the 8 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
These 3 are worth checking in Bucks County.
Manganese2 of 32 wells over
Too few tested to show: Lehigh, Northampton, Philadelphia.
Arsenic2 of 32 wells over
Too few tested to show: Lehigh, Northampton, Philadelphia.
Radon in water1 of 17 wells over
* Likely overstated, so we don't rank it.
Too few tested to show: Lehigh, Mercer, NJ, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Warren, NJ.
These 4 are rare in Bucks County.
Lead1 of 32 wells over
Too few tested to show: Lehigh, Northampton, Philadelphia.
Nitrate0 of 33 wells over
Too few tested to show: Lehigh, Philadelphia.
Fluoride0 of 32 wells over
Too few tested to show: Lehigh, Northampton, Philadelphia.
Uranium0 of 32 wells over
Too few tested to show: Lehigh, Northampton, Philadelphia, Warren, NJ.
Coliform bacteria turned up in 11 of 13 tested Bucks County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria11 of 13 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Burlington, NJ, Lehigh, Mercer, NJ, Northampton, Philadelphia, Warren, NJ.
E. coli3 of 13 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Burlington, NJ, Lehigh, Mercer, NJ, Northampton, Philadelphia, Warren, NJ.
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Bucks County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 4 of 32 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains4 of 32 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Lehigh, Northampton, Philadelphia.
Most of the 33 wells tested in Bucks 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 Bucks 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 Bucks County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Arsenic
- Manganese
- Radon in water
What Pennsylvania offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's private well page
- Certified labsPennsylvania's list of certified labs
- Well recordsPennsylvania's well record search
Here's what we know about radon and PFAS in Bucks County.
Bucks 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 25 town water systems in Bucks County test for PFAS. 19 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 23 ng/L of PFOS. Only 8 wells in Bucks County have 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 Bucks County
Is well water in Bucks County safe to drink?
2 of 32 wells tested in Bucks County had arsenic over the limit, about 1 in 16. Across Pennsylvania it's about 1 in 24. That's a bigger share than in 17 of the 22 other Pennsylvania counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for arsenic before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Bucks County?
Use a lab Pennsylvania has certified for drinking water. Pennsylvania's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, manganese and radon in water, the tests that matter most in Bucks County.
How does Bucks County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: 5 of the 5 neighboring counties with data had a higher share than Bucks County, at 6%. Mercer, NJ had the most, at 21%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Mercer, NJ's 21% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Bucks County?
In Bucks County, 11 of 13 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 Bucks County numbers come from
- People on wells: 101,797 in Bucks County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 410 well water samples from 33 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2003 to 2023.
- Neighboring counties: the 8 counties that share a border with Bucks County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 25 town water systems in Bucks County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Bucks County is zone 1 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Environmental Protection, checked November 1, 2026.