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Is Lincoln, NE tap water safe?

City of Lincoln serves Lincoln, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Nebraska’s records show for it, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

City of Lincoln serves Lincoln. In EPA’s and Nebraska’s records it has 2 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark, and no health-based violation since 2016.

The worst: Lithium at 23.7 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

Some homes in a town are on private wells or a small system of their own. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in City of Lincoln’s water.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Lincoln

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Nebraska certifies.

The lab Nebraska certifies closest to Lincoln, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Midwest Laboratories, Inc.

    Omaha, NE · about 42 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals

Nebraska Public Health Environmental Laboratory: Bacteria and nitrate sample kits for private wells, ordered online from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. A bacteria kit is $17 and a nitrate kit $16. Keeping Your Well Water Safe and Sound, Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment.

All 5 certified labs for Nebraska

ZIP codes in Lincoln

Which ZIP codes are in Lincoln: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Nebraska DHHS, certified drinking water laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Lincoln

Towns nearby with a page of their own.

What to do next