Your county health department
Utah 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.
Utah's private well pageArsenic in Utah well water, by county
Arsenic is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 12 of the 24 Utah counties with 10 or more tested wells. 1 more look high, but those results likely overstate it. 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 Utah compares with the rest of the country
Across Utah, about 1 in 4 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (286 of 1,254). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. So arsenic turns up in Utah wells about twice as often as in the country as a whole, and a test is worth adding even if your county isn't on the list below.
Why it matters: Drinking it for years raises the risk of skin, bladder and lung cancer.
Arsenic dissolves out of certain rocks and old sediments, so it can be high even where nobody has polluted anything.
Arsenic in tested wells, county by county
Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA limit of 10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County | 70 | Widespread | |
| Salt Lake County | 207 | Widespread | |
| Emery County | 13 | Widespread | |
| Millard County | 100 | Widespread | |
| Davis County | 20 | Widespread | |
| Iron County | 73 | Widespread | |
| Wayne County | 11 | Widespread | |
| Uintah County | 28 | Widespread | |
| Cache County | 20 | Widespread | |
| Beaver County | 58 | Widespread | |
| Wasatch County | 17 | Widespread | |
| Weber County | 31 | Widespread | |
| San Juan County | 69 | Widespread | |
| Tooele County | 164 | Worth checking | |
| Utah County | 84 | Worth checking | |
| Kane County | 11 | Worth checking | |
| Sevier County | 13 | Worth checking | |
| Box Elder County | 44 | Worth checking | |
| Morgan County | 51 | Worth checking | |
| Sanpete County | 23 | Rare | |
| Duchesne County | 25 | Rare | |
| Grand County | 59 | Rare | |
| Juab County | 28 | Rare | |
| Summit County | 17 | Rare |
* Likely overstated. These shares come from a narrow set of wells, so they probably run high for the county as a whole:
- Washington County: Almost all of these tests come from the US Geological Survey in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.
- Morgan County: Almost all of these tests come from a single agency, mostly before 2013 in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.
3 more Utah counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for arsenic, too few to rate.
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Where to get your well tested for arsenic in Utah
A lab Utah certifies
Ask for arsenic by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by UtahA mail-in kit
Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include arsenic.
Compare kitsKeep reading about wells in Utah
- Well water testing in Utah: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
- Arsenic in well water: where it comes from, what it does and how to remove it
- Nitrate in Utah wells, by county
- Uranium in Utah wells, by county
- Manganese in Utah wells, by county
- Lead in Utah wells, by county
Questions people ask about arsenic in Utah
Is there arsenic in Utah well water?
Arsenic is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 12 of the 24 Utah counties with 10 or more tested wells. 1 more look high, but those results likely overstate it. Across Utah, about 1 in 4 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (286 of 1,254). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. So arsenic turns up in Utah wells about twice as often as in the country as a whole, and a test is worth adding even if your county isn't on the list below.
Where can I get my well tested for arsenic in Utah?
Use a lab certified by Utah for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes arsenic from a certified lab. Some county health departments test wells too, so call yours first.
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 10 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 and Human Services (Utah Public Health Laboratory) and local health departments.