Data & Methodology — Schuylkill County

Full contaminant data, sample history, and sourcing for Schuylkill County. For readers who want to go beyond the summary.

Contaminant Data — All Analytes

989 well testing events on record, covering 22 analytes. Data spans 1925 to 2024.

Contaminant Samples Years Detection Rate Distribution LowModHigh vs. Limit vs. PA Avg
Manganese 676 1959–2023 98%
3600% of limit ↑ 614% above
Iron 752 1931–2023 97%
2642% of limit ↑ 355% above
Sulfate 702 1931–2023 99%
64% of limit ↑ 274% above
Radon 13 1993–2023 100%
15% of limit ↓ 89% below
PFOS municipal 285 2023–2025 18%
67% of limit ↓ 48% below
Uranium 121 1993–2023 79%
1% of limit ↓ 71% below
PFOA municipal 285 2023–2025 18%
39% of limit ↓ 58% below
Lead 305 1975–2023 3%
9% of limit ↑ 95% above
Nitrate 271 1931–2023 59%
1% of limit ↓ 96% below
Chloride 501 1931–2023 98%
1% of limit ↓ 87% below
Arsenic 274 1975–2023 39%
10% of limit ↓ 66% below
Fluoride 263 1949–2023 52%
2% of limit ↓ 44% below
HFPO-DA (GenX) municipal 277 2023–2025 0%
— —
Nitrite 141 1971–2023 10%
1% of limit ↓ 63% below
PFHxS municipal 58 2023–2025 7%
52% of limit ~ typical
PFNA municipal 58 2023–2025 2%
67% of limit ~ typical
E. coli 5 2000–2023 0%
— —
Hardness 678 1931–2023 100%
— ~ typical
PFBS municipal 277 2023–2025 9%
— ↓ 60% below
pH 837 1949–2023 100%
— ↓ 27% below
Sodium 676 1931–2023 100%
— ↓ 80% below
Total Coliform 5 1993–2023 31%
— ~ 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 Schuylkill County

Of the 274 arsenic tests on record for Schuylkill County (1975–2023), 61% found none.

Of the 501 chloride tests on record for Schuylkill County (1931–2023), 2% found none, and half were below 3.5 mg/L.

Of the 263 fluoride tests on record for Schuylkill County (1949–2023), 48% found none.

Of the 752 iron tests on record for Schuylkill County (1931–2023), 3% found none, and half were below 7.5 mg/L.

Of the 305 lead tests on record for Schuylkill County (1975–2023), 97% found none.

Of the 676 manganese tests on record for Schuylkill County (1959–2023), 2% found none, and half were below 1.78 mg/L.

Of the 271 nitrate tests on record for Schuylkill County (1931–2023), 41% found none, and half were below 10 µg/L.

Of the 227 pfoa tests on record for Schuylkill County (2025), 78% found none.

Of the 227 pfos tests on record for Schuylkill County (2025), 79% found none.

Of the 702 sulfate tests on record for Schuylkill County (1931–2023), 1% found none, and half were below 160 mg/L.

Of the 121 uranium tests on record for Schuylkill County (1993–2023), 21% found none, and half were below 0.1 µg/L.

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Data Coverage & Gaps

Well-sampled analytes (15+ samples)

  • Manganese 676 samples
  • Iron 752 samples
  • Sulfate 702 samples
  • PFOS 285 samples
  • Uranium 121 samples
  • PFOA 285 samples
  • Lead 305 samples
  • Nitrate 271 samples
  • Chloride 501 samples
  • Arsenic 274 samples
  • Fluoride 263 samples
  • HFPO-DA (GenX) 277 samples
  • Nitrite 141 samples
  • Hardness 678 samples
  • PFBS 277 samples
  • pH 837 samples
  • Sodium 676 samples

Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution

  • Radon 13 samples
  • E. coli 5 samples
  • Total Coliform 5 samples

Public vs. Private Water in Schuylkill County

189 Active public water systems
133,690 Residents on public water
32% Households on private wells

Public water systems in Schuylkill 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 Schuylkill 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.

Contaminant Associated Condition Schuylkill County Prevalence PA Average Source Year
Arsenic Cancer prevalence 7.9% 7.0% 2020
Lead Heart disease rate 6.5% 7.2% 2020
Arsenic Kidney disease rate 3.4% 3.0% 2020

Source: CDC PLACES county-level estimates. Raw data: Download Schuylkill County CDC PLACES data →

Data Sources

This report aggregates data from the following public databases:

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.

Last updated: 2026-08-04

Full methodology →