Full contaminant data, sample history, and sourcing for Lackawanna County. For readers who want to go beyond the summary.
Contaminant Data — All Analytes
202 well testing events on record, covering
22 analytes.
Data spans 1928 to 2022.
Contaminant
Samples
Years
Detection Rate
Distribution LowModHigh
vs. Limit
vs. PA Avg
Radon
3
2022
100%
557% of limit
↑ 330% above
Manganese
68
1963–2022
94%
150% of limit
↓ 70% below
Iron
88
1930–2022
93%
53% of limit
↓ 91% below
PFOS
municipal
212
2023–2025
28%
82% of limit
↓ 35% below
PFOA
municipal
212
2023–2025
17%
116% of limit
↑ 25% above
Sulfate
69
1930–2022
100%
5% of limit
↓ 72% below
Chloride
79
1930–2022
100%
2% of limit
↓ 81% below
Arsenic
10
1974–2022
60%
5% of limit
↓ 82% below
Fluoride
33
1963–2022
88%
2% of limit
↓ 44% below
HFPO-DA (GenX)
municipal
176
2023–2025
0%
—
—
Lead
31
1963–2022
26%
0% of limit
↓ 100% below
Nitrate
63
1930–2022
94%
4% of limit
↓ 80% below
Nitrite
7
1999–2022
0%
—
—
PFHxS
municipal
24
2023–2025
0%
—
—
PFNA
municipal
24
2023–2025
0%
—
—
Uranium
9
1999–2022
89%
1% of limit
↓ 57% below
Total Coliform
3
2022
0%
—
—
Sodium
50
1930–2022
100%
—
↓ 39% below
pH
92
1962–2022
100%
—
~ typical
PFBS
municipal
176
2023–2025
7%
—
~ typical
Hardness
90
1930–2022
100%
—
↓ 32% below
E. coli
3
2022
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 Lackawanna County
Of the 79 chloride tests on record for Lackawanna County (1930–2022),
0% found none, and half were below 5 mg/L.
Of the 33 fluoride tests on record for Lackawanna County (1963–2022),
12% found none, and half were below 100 µg/L.
Of the 88 iron tests on record for Lackawanna County (1930–2022),
7% found none, and half were below 125 µg/L.
Of the 31 lead tests on record for Lackawanna County (1963–2022),
74% found none.
Of the 68 manganese tests on record for Lackawanna County (1963–2022),
6% found none, and half were below 70 µg/L.
Of the 63 nitrate tests on record for Lackawanna County (1930–2022),
6% found none, and half were below 320 µg/L.
Of the 188 pfoa tests on record for Lackawanna County (2025),
82% found none.
Of the 188 pfos tests on record for Lackawanna County (2025),
70% found none.
Of the 69 sulfate tests on record for Lackawanna County (1930–2022),
0% found none, and half were below 12 mg/L.
Data Coverage & Gaps
Well-sampled analytes (15+ samples)
Manganese 68 samples
Iron 88 samples
PFOS 212 samples
PFOA 212 samples
Sulfate 69 samples
Chloride 79 samples
Fluoride 33 samples
HFPO-DA (GenX) 176 samples
Lead 31 samples
Nitrate 63 samples
Sodium 50 samples
pH 92 samples
PFBS 176 samples
Hardness 90 samples
Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution
Radon 3 samples
Arsenic 10 samples
Nitrite 7 samples
Uranium 9 samples
Total Coliform 3 samples
E. coli 3 samples
Public vs. Private Water in Lackawanna County
120Active public water systems
173,154Residents on public water
28%Households on private wells
Public water systems in Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna County. Census data explorer →
USGS Aquifer Atlas — principal aquifer type underlying Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna County, used in contamination risk scoring. TRI Explorer →
EPA Superfund NPL — National Priorities List sites in or near Lackawanna 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.