Lebanon County, Pennsylvania: drinking water report. Lebanon County in south-central Pennsylvania has about 143,000 residents, with Lebanon City as the…
Lebanon County in south-central Pennsylvania has about 143,000 residents, with Lebanon City as the county seat. Water comes from the Swatara Creek watershed and groundwater from limestone aquifers. The county's agricultural economy – dairy, corn, and poultry – and its steel industry heritage (the former Bethlehem Steel Lebanon Plant) create overlapping water quality concerns.
Lebanon County's karst limestone geology creates the same rapid contamination pathways seen in other Pennsylvania carbonate terrain. According to Penn State Extension's 2024 groundwater monitoring, nitrate from agricultural activity averaged 7.8 mg/L in the county's shallow wells, with 16% exceeding the MCL. Sinkholes and solution channels connect farm fields to the aquifer with minimal natural filtration.
The former Fort Indiantown Gap military reservation in the northern part of the county has documented AFFF use. Pennsylvania DEP's 2024 PFAS investigation found PFOS at 14 ppt in monitoring wells near the base's fire training areas. The base's active use by the Pennsylvania National Guard means ongoing potential for additional PFAS introduction.
Lebanon County's karst geology and agricultural activity make nitrate the most prevalent concern for private well owners. The limestone aquifer provides good water quantity but limited natural protection against surface contamination.
Check your water for data at your address. For nitrate and PFAS together, reverse osmosis handles both in a single system. Our water filter guide covers systems suited to Pennsylvania karst water. Get your detailed report for local trends, and visit our Pennsylvania page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Lebanon County, PA.
The EPA places Lebanon County, PA in Zone 1 - the EPA's highest-risk category, where the predicted average indoor radon level is above 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
62% of homes in Lebanon County, PA were built before 1980, and 29% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Lebanon County, PA averages 8.9 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
6 public water systems serving Lebanon County, PA have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 3 water systems serving Lebanon County, PA carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Ground Water Rule | 3 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.