Nitrate is widespread in Northampton County wells.
1 widespread, 1 worth checking out of 2 health checks.
From 11 wells tested in Northampton County since 2000; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: arsenic (5), uranium (2), manganese (2), lead (2), fluoride (2).
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 54,288 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 Northampton County compares with Pennsylvania and the counties around it.
Each result puts Northampton County next to the 5 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is widespread in Northampton County wells.
Nitrate3 of 11 wells over
Too few tested to show: Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe.
This one is worth checking in Northampton County.
Radon in water1 of 11 wells over
Too few tested to show: Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Warren, NJ.
Too few Northampton County wells were tested for these 5.
Arsenic5 wells tested
Uranium2 wells tested
Manganese2 wells tested
Lead2 wells tested
Fluoride2 wells tested
Coliform bacteria turned up in 2 of 6 tested Northampton County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria2 of 6 wells had it
E. coli2 of 6 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Northampton County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 1 of 5 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains5 wells tested
Northampton County has 11 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2010s.
None of the 11 wells has a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.
Most Northampton 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 Northampton County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Radon in water
- Arsenic
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 Northampton County.
Northampton 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 9 town water systems in Northampton County test for PFAS. 2 found some PFAS, all below the new limits. No well in Northampton 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 Northampton County
Is well water in Northampton County safe to drink?
3 of 11 wells tested in Northampton County had nitrate over the limit, about 3 in 10. Across Pennsylvania it's about 1 in 12. That's a bigger share than in 25 of the 26 other Pennsylvania counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 1 county whose results are likely overstated. So test your own well for nitrate before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Northampton 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, radon in water and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Northampton County.
How does Northampton County compare with the counties around it?
For nitrate, the share of tested wells over the limit: Northampton County, at 27%, had a higher share than all 2 neighboring counties with data. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Warren, NJ's 13% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Northampton County?
In Northampton County, 2 of 6 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 Northampton County numbers come from
- People on wells: 54,288 in Northampton County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 64 well water samples from 11 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2019.
- Neighboring counties: the 5 counties that share a border with Northampton County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 9 town water systems in Northampton County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Northampton County is zone 1 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Environmental Protection, checked November 1, 2026.