Full contaminant data, sample history, and sourcing for Forest County. For readers who want to go beyond the summary.
Contaminant Data — All Analytes
44 well testing events on record, covering
22 analytes.
Data spans 1929 to 2025.
Contaminant
Samples
Years
Detection Rate
Distribution LowModHigh
vs. Limit
vs. PA Avg
Iron
26
1972–2023
100%
2033% of limit
↑ 250% above
Manganese
27
1972–2023
93%
2080% of limit
↑ 313% above
Radon
2
2015–2019
100%
182% of limit
↑ 40% above
PFOS
municipal
16
2024–2025
38%
494% of limit
↑ 288% above
PFOA
municipal
16
2024–2025
38%
88% of limit
~ typical
Arsenic
22
1974–2023
95%
12% of limit
↓ 58% below
Chloride
24
1972–2023
100%
0% of limit
↓ 98% below
Fluoride
24
1972–2023
100%
13% of limit
↑ 189% above
HFPO-DA (GenX)
municipal
16
2024–2025
0%
—
—
Lead
23
1973–2023
13%
2% of limit
↓ 50% below
Nitrate
23
1972–2023
22%
0% of limit
↓ 100% below
Nitrite
21
1975–2023
10%
1% of limit
↓ 60% below
PFHxS
municipal
2
2024
0%
—
—
PFNA
municipal
2
2024
0%
—
—
Sulfate
24
1972–2023
100%
3% of limit
↓ 84% below
Uranium
13
2015–2021
8%
0% of limit
↓ 93% below
Total Coliform
1
2019
0%
—
—
Sodium
25
1972–2023
100%
—
↓ 98% below
pH
29
1972–2023
100%
—
~ typical
PFBS
municipal
16
2024–2025
12%
—
↓ 68% below
Hardness
27
1972–2023
100%
—
↓ 66% below
E. coli
1
2019
0%
—
—
Distribution shows the share of samples in each concentration band relative to the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): Low = below half the MCL, Moderate = between half and the MCL, High = above the MCL. Analytes without an MCL (e.g. sodium, pH) show — in the limit columns. State average is based on county median values across PA.
Compare your result with Forest County
Of the 22 arsenic tests on record for Forest County (1974–2023),
5% found none, and half were below 1.19 µg/L.
Of the 24 chloride tests on record for Forest County (1972–2023),
0% found none, and half were below 630 µg/L.
Of the 24 fluoride tests on record for Forest County (1972–2023),
0% found none, and half were below 515 µg/L.
Of the 26 iron tests on record for Forest County (1972–2023),
0% found none, and half were below 6.1 mg/L.
Of the 23 lead tests on record for Forest County (1973–2023),
87% found none.
Of the 27 manganese tests on record for Forest County (1972–2023),
7% found none, and half were below 1.02 mg/L.
Of the 23 nitrate tests on record for Forest County (1972–2023),
78% found none.
Of the 24 sulfate tests on record for Forest County (1972–2023),
0% found none, and half were below 6.65 mg/L.
Data Coverage & Gaps
Well-sampled analytes (15+ samples)
Iron 26 samples
Manganese 27 samples
PFOS 16 samples
PFOA 16 samples
Arsenic 22 samples
Chloride 24 samples
Fluoride 24 samples
HFPO-DA (GenX) 16 samples
Lead 23 samples
Nitrate 23 samples
Nitrite 21 samples
Sulfate 24 samples
Sodium 25 samples
pH 29 samples
PFBS 16 samples
Hardness 27 samples
Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution
Radon 2 samples
Uranium 13 samples
Total Coliform 1 sample
E. coli 1 sample
Public vs. Private Water in Forest County
23Active public water systems
6,925Residents on public water
78%Households on private wells
Public water systems in Forest County are regulated by the EPA and must test and report contaminant levels. Private well owners are responsible for their own testing — there is no routine monitoring of private wells by any government agency.
CDC Health Outcome Correlations
Where contaminants detected in Forest County have established associations with specific health outcomes, we cross-reference CDC PLACES county-level prevalence data. This is a contextual signal, not a causal claim.
This report aggregates data from the following public databases:
Water Quality Portal (WQP) — groundwater sample results for Forest County from EPA, USGS, and state agencies. Browse WQP data →
EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) — public water system inventory used to estimate the share of residents on private wells. Browse SDWIS →
Census ACS 5-Year Estimates — well and cistern household counts (variable DP04_0074E) used to calculate the private-well percentage for Forest County. Census data explorer →
USGS Aquifer Atlas — principal aquifer type underlying Forest County, which informs which contaminants are geologically likely. USGS Aquifer Atlas →
EPA UCMR 5 (2023–2025) — PFAS occurrence data from public water systems, used as a proxy indicator for aquifer PFAS exposure. Rows marked "municipal" in the table above come from this source. About UCMR 5 →
EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) — industrial facility chemical releases near Forest County, used in contamination risk scoring. TRI Explorer →
EPA Superfund NPL — National Priorities List sites in or near Forest County, used in contamination risk scoring. Superfund site search →
CDC PLACES — county-level health outcome prevalence (kidney disease, cancer, heart disease) correlated with detected contaminants. About CDC PLACES →
Methodology
Raw records are downloaded from the Water Quality Portal and normalized to µg/L (ppb). Records are deduplicated by sample ID and date, and certified outliers are excluded. Analyte names are mapped to EPA canonical forms. Detection rates, distribution bands, and MCL comparisons are computed from the normalized dataset.
Distribution bands use the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level as the threshold: concentrations below 50% of the MCL are classed as Low, between 50% and 100% as Moderate, and above 100% as High. For analytes without an MCL (sodium, hardness, pH), distribution is not computed.
State comparison uses the median of county median values across all counties in PA with at least one sample for that analyte.