Your well draws water from fractured bedrock—a jumble of shale, sandstone, and other dense rock layers that sit beneath Cuyahoga County. Water fills the cracks and spaces in these old rocks. The rock itself was laid down millions of years ago and has been broken by natural forces, creating pathways for groundwater to flow through.
Manganese, iron, and lead come straight from the rock. As water sits in contact with these rock layers over long periods, the metals dissolve into your water. Arsenic is also naturally present in parts of the bedrock. Chloride and sulfate are released the same way—they are part of the minerals locked in the stone, not contaminants added from the surface.
Your water is extremely hard and loaded with iron and sodium. This means white scale buildup will coat your water heater, pipes, and fixtures. Iron will stain your sinks and laundry orange-brown. The high sodium content makes the water taste salty and is a concern for people watching their salt intake.
Your well water in Cuyahoga County has arsenic, lead, and manganese at levels that exceed EPA health standards. These are serious contaminants that need immediate attention. Your water also contains high amounts of iron, chloride, fluoride, and sulfate. This combination of health risks means your family should not use this water for drinking or cooking without treatment.
Long-term exposure to arsenic can cause serious health problems over time. Lead hurts children's brain development and learning. Manganese can affect the nervous system. The extremely high iron in your water will stain your sinks, toilets, and laundry orange-brown. Your water is also very hard and salty, which damages water heaters and leaves white scale buildup everywhere.
Get your well tested right away by a state-certified lab to confirm exactly what is in your water. A basic health screen runs fifty to one hundred dollars. A complete mineral and metals panel runs two hundred to four hundred dollars. Because arsenic has been found above EPA limits, you need a whole-house treatment system designed to remove arsenic, along with iron and hardness filtration.
| Contaminant | Samples ⓘ | % Above MCL ⓘ | Distribution ⓘ | Confidence ⓘ | Risk ⓘ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manganese | 10 | 78% | 10% · 20% · 70% | Low | High |
| Lead | 4 | 67% | 25% · 25% · 50% | Low | High |
| Iron | 73 | 60% | 36% · 6% · 59% | Moderate | High |
| Chloride | 63 | 27% | 56% · 18% · 27% | Moderate | High |
| Arsenic | 10 | 11% | 50% · 40% · 10% | Low | Moderate |
| Sulfate | 48 | 8% | 69% · 23% · 8% | Moderate | Moderate |
| Fluoride | 30 | 7% | 67% · 27% · 7% | Moderate | Moderate |
| Nitrate | 5 | 0% | 100% · 0% · 0% | Low | Low |
| Nitrite | 51 | 0% | 96% · 4% · 0% | Moderate | Low |
| Sodium | 82 | — | — | Moderate | Low |
| pH | 26 | — | — | Moderate | Low |
| Hardness | 36 | — | — | Moderate | Low |
| Fecal Coliform | 1 | — | — | Low | Safe |
| E. coli | 1 | 0% | 100% · 0% · 0% | Low | Safe |
MCL = Maximum Contaminant Level (EPA limit for public water; used as benchmark for private wells). Distribution shows % of sampled wells in each concentration band. Methodology.
Population-level CDC data. Not individual risk prediction.
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