Full contaminant data, sample history, and sourcing for Mifflin County. For readers who want to go beyond the summary.
Contaminant Data — All Analytes
82 well testing events on record, covering
22 analytes.
Data spans 1926 to 2024.
Contaminant
Samples
Years
Detection Rate
Distribution LowModHigh
vs. Limit
vs. PA Avg
Manganese
42
1965–2023
69%
100% of limit
↓ 80% below
Iron
51
1934–2023
80%
57% of limit
↓ 90% below
Radon
11
1994–2023
100%
29% of limit
↓ 77% below
Nitrate
54
1934–2018
96%
18% of limit
~ typical
Sulfate
49
1934–2023
100%
12% of limit
↓ 30% below
Arsenic
14
1977–2023
29%
2% of limit
↓ 95% below
Chloride
50
1934–2023
100%
3% of limit
↓ 73% below
Fluoride
46
1965–2023
78%
3% of limit
↓ 30% below
HFPO-DA (GenX)
municipal
24
2024–2025
0%
—
—
Lead
11
1977–2023
9%
0% of limit
↓ 92% below
Nitrite
45
1980–2018
13%
2% of limit
↑ 33% above
PFHxS
municipal
4
2024
0%
—
—
PFNA
municipal
4
2024
0%
—
—
PFOA
municipal
25
2024–2025
0%
—
—
PFOS
municipal
25
2024–2025
8%
51% of limit
↓ 60% below
Uranium
7
1994–2023
71%
1% of limit
↓ 42% below
E. coli
2
1994–2023
27%
—
~ typical
Hardness
51
1934–2023
100%
—
↑ 43% above
PFBS
municipal
24
2024–2025
0%
—
—
pH
57
1965–2023
100%
—
~ typical
Sodium
46
1934–2023
100%
—
↓ 66% below
Total Coliform
2
1994–2023
73%
—
~ typical
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 Mifflin County
Of the 50 chloride tests on record for Mifflin County (1934–2023),
0% found none, and half were below 7.3 mg/L.
Of the 46 fluoride tests on record for Mifflin County (1965–2023),
22% found none, and half were below 100 µg/L.
Of the 51 iron tests on record for Mifflin County (1934–2023),
20% found none, and half were below 120 µg/L.
Of the 42 manganese tests on record for Mifflin County (1965–2023),
31% found none, and half were below 20.1 µg/L.
Of the 54 nitrate tests on record for Mifflin County (1934–2018),
4% found none, and half were below 1.48 mg/L.
Of the 21 pfoa tests on record for Mifflin County (2025),
100% found none.
Of the 21 pfos tests on record for Mifflin County (2025),
90% found none.
Of the 49 sulfate tests on record for Mifflin County (1934–2023),
0% found none, and half were below 30 mg/L.
Data Coverage & Gaps
Well-sampled analytes (15+ samples)
Manganese 42 samples
Iron 51 samples
Nitrate 54 samples
Sulfate 49 samples
Chloride 50 samples
Fluoride 46 samples
HFPO-DA (GenX) 24 samples
Nitrite 45 samples
PFOA 25 samples
PFOS 25 samples
Hardness 51 samples
PFBS 24 samples
pH 57 samples
Sodium 46 samples
Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution
Radon 11 samples
Arsenic 14 samples
Lead 11 samples
Uranium 7 samples
E. coli 2 samples
Total Coliform 2 samples
Public vs. Private Water in Mifflin County
28Active public water systems
32,820Residents on public water
40%Households on private wells
Public water systems in Mifflin 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 Mifflin 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 Mifflin 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 Mifflin County. Census data explorer →
USGS Aquifer Atlas — principal aquifer type underlying Mifflin 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 Mifflin County, used in contamination risk scoring. TRI Explorer →
EPA Superfund NPL — National Priorities List sites in or near Mifflin 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.