Full contaminant data, sample history, and sourcing for Pickaway County. For readers who want to go beyond the summary.
Contaminant Data — All Analytes
1559 well testing events on record, covering
19 analytes.
Data spans 1964 to 2021.
Contaminant
Samples
Years
Detection Rate
Distribution LowModHigh
vs. Limit
vs. OH Avg
Iron
105
1972–2014
85%
623% of limit
↑ 42% above
Manganese
104
1973–2014
99%
84% of limit
↓ 52% below
Lead
97
1972–2014
60%
0% of limit
↓ 100% below
Nitrate
64
1972–2023
100%
49% of limit
↑ 916% above
Fluoride
101
1972–2014
95%
13% of limit
↑ 25% above
Arsenic
78
1975–2014
85%
60% of limit
↑ 281% above
Chloride
1499
1972–2014
100%
7% of limit
↓ 52% below
HFPO-DA (GenX)
municipal
10
2023–2025
0%
—
—
Nitrite
69
1974–2023
49%
1% of limit
↑ 57% above
PFHxS
municipal
10
2023–2025
0%
—
—
PFNA
municipal
10
2023–2025
0%
—
—
PFOA
municipal
11
2018–2025
0%
—
—
PFOS
municipal
10
2023–2025
0%
—
—
Sulfate
72
1972–2014
100%
21% of limit
↓ 53% below
Uranium
2
2012
100%
5% of limit
↑ 114% above
Sodium
1313
1972–2014
100%
—
↓ 81% below
Hardness
84
1972–2014
100%
—
~ typical
PFBS
municipal
10
2023–2025
0%
—
—
pH
841
1972–2024
100%
—
~ 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 OH.
Compare your result with Pickaway County
Of the 78 arsenic tests on record for Pickaway County (1975–2014),
15% found none, and half were below 5.7 µg/L.
Of the 1499 chloride tests on record for Pickaway County (1972–2014),
0% found none, and half were below 18.1 mg/L.
Of the 101 fluoride tests on record for Pickaway County (1972–2014),
5% found none, and half were below 500 µg/L.
Of the 105 iron tests on record for Pickaway County (1972–2014),
15% found none, and half were below 1.78 mg/L.
Of the 97 lead tests on record for Pickaway County (1972–2014),
40% found none.
Of the 104 manganese tests on record for Pickaway County (1973–2014),
1% found none, and half were below 41.5 µg/L.
Of the 64 nitrate tests on record for Pickaway County (1972–2023),
0% found none, and half were below 4.91 mg/L.
Of the 72 sulfate tests on record for Pickaway County (1972–2014),
0% found none, and half were below 51.5 mg/L.
Data Coverage & Gaps
Well-sampled analytes (15+ samples)
Iron 105 samples
Manganese 104 samples
Lead 97 samples
Nitrate 64 samples
Fluoride 101 samples
Arsenic 78 samples
Chloride 1499 samples
Nitrite 69 samples
Sulfate 72 samples
Sodium 1313 samples
Hardness 84 samples
pH 841 samples
Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution
PFOA 11 samples
Uranium 2 samples
Public vs. Private Water in Pickaway County
40Active public water systems
45,484Residents on public water
28%Households on private wells
Public water systems in Pickaway 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 Pickaway 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 Pickaway 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 Pickaway County. Census data explorer →
USGS Aquifer Atlas — principal aquifer type underlying Pickaway 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 Pickaway County, used in contamination risk scoring. TRI Explorer →
EPA Superfund NPL — National Priorities List sites in or near Pickaway 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 OH with at least one sample for that analyte.