Data & Methodology — Bedford County

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

Contaminant Data — All Analytes

168 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
Radon 14 1994–2023 100%
10% of limit ↓ 93% below
Manganese 75 1967–2023 67%
60% of limit ↓ 88% below
Iron 77 1967–2023 71%
30% of limit ↓ 95% below
Nitrate 97 1933–2023 98%
12% of limit ↓ 32% below
PFOS municipal 105 2024–2025 10%
110% of limit ~ typical
Sulfate 82 1933–2023 99%
8% of limit ↓ 51% below
Arsenic 29 1972–2023 31%
1% of limit ↓ 97% below
Chloride 85 1933–2023 100%
3% of limit ↓ 74% below
Fluoride 82 1954–2023 71%
2% of limit ↓ 44% below
HFPO-DA (GenX) municipal 62 2024–2025 0%
— —
Lead 23 1967–2023 17%
1% of limit ↓ 70% below
Nitrite 81 1974–2023 5%
5% of limit ↑ 233% above
PFHxS municipal 10 2024–2025 0%
— —
PFNA municipal 10 2024–2025 0%
— —
PFOA municipal 105 2024–2025 8%
54% of limit ↓ 42% below
Uranium 11 1994–2023 27%
1% of limit ↓ 66% below
E. coli 2 1994–2023 36%
— ~ typical
Total Coliform 2 1994–2023 53%
— ~ typical
Sodium 71 1954–2023 100%
— ↓ 63% below
pH 94 1954–2023 100%
— ~ typical
PFBS municipal 63 2024–2025 6%
— ↓ 23% below
Hardness 84 1933–2023 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 PA.

Compare your result with Bedford County

Of the 29 arsenic tests on record for Bedford County (1972–2023), 69% found none.

Of the 85 chloride tests on record for Bedford County (1933–2023), 0% found none, and half were below 7 mg/L.

Of the 82 fluoride tests on record for Bedford County (1954–2023), 29% found none, and half were below 100 µg/L.

Of the 77 iron tests on record for Bedford County (1967–2023), 29% found none, and half were below 30 µg/L.

Of the 23 lead tests on record for Bedford County (1967–2023), 83% found none.

Of the 75 manganese tests on record for Bedford County (1967–2023), 33% found none, and half were below 10 µg/L.

Of the 97 nitrate tests on record for Bedford County (1933–2023), 2% found none, and half were below 1.1 mg/L.

Of the 95 pfoa tests on record for Bedford County (2025), 92% found none.

Of the 95 pfos tests on record for Bedford County (2025), 88% found none.

Of the 82 sulfate tests on record for Bedford County (1933–2023), 1% found none, and half were below 20.5 mg/L.

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Data Coverage & Gaps

Well-sampled analytes (15+ samples)

  • Manganese 75 samples
  • Iron 77 samples
  • Nitrate 97 samples
  • PFOS 105 samples
  • Sulfate 82 samples
  • Arsenic 29 samples
  • Chloride 85 samples
  • Fluoride 82 samples
  • HFPO-DA (GenX) 62 samples
  • Lead 23 samples
  • Nitrite 81 samples
  • PFOA 105 samples
  • Sodium 71 samples
  • pH 94 samples
  • PFBS 63 samples
  • Hardness 84 samples

Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution

  • Radon 14 samples
  • Uranium 11 samples
  • E. coli 2 samples
  • Total Coliform 2 samples

Public vs. Private Water in Bedford County

104 Active public water systems
27,780 Residents on public water
65% Households on private wells

Public water systems in Bedford 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 Bedford 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 Bedford County Prevalence PA Average Source Year
Arsenic Cancer prevalence 6.1% 7.0% 2020
Arsenic Kidney disease rate 2.7% 3.0% 2020

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