Radium in Lincoln County wells: what the EPA numbers actually say
I don't like scaring people about their water, and I'm not going to start here. But Lincoln County has a documented radium story, and I think every homeowner in that county deserves to hear the actual numbers instead of a rumor version of it.
What actually happened in Silex
Silex, Missouri failed the EPA's radium limit for its city water. The federal legal limit for combined radium-226 and radium-228 is 5 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Silex's own testing measured combined radium at 7.7 pCi/L, above that limit. That violation was serious enough that the state stepped in and handed out bottled water to Silex residents for close to 20 months while the city worked on a fix.
That's not a story I'm telling for shock value. It's a matter of public record, and it's the clearest, most specific example I can point to of what "over the radium limit" actually looks like in this part of Missouri.
Why Silex isn't the only town worth watching
Radium is naturally occurring. It comes up out of the deep bedrock aquifer that a lot of Lincoln County draws from, both for public systems and private wells. Silex isn't unique geologically, it's just the one that crossed the legal line and made the news. A few of its neighbors in the same county sit closer to that line than most homeowners realize:
- Winfield: combined radium measured at 4.2 pCi/L, which is 84% of the 5 pCi/L federal limit.
- Old Monroe: combined radium measured at 4.2 pCi/L, also 84% of the federal limit.
- Moscow Mills: combined radium measured at 3.6 pCi/L, 72% of the federal limit.
- Troy: the city's own reporting puts radium at 96% of the federal limit.
Every one of those figures is a legal, compliant number. None of those towns are in violation. I'm not telling you to panic about any of them. I'm telling you that radium is a real, measured, documented presence in this specific county's groundwater, and the only way to know your own number, whether you're on a public system or a private well, is to test for it specifically. Radium doesn't show up in a basic hardness or bacteria test. It takes a dedicated radiological test.
What I actually recommend
If you're on a private well anywhere in Lincoln County, especially on the deep bedrock aquifer rather than a shallow river-bottom well, I'd add a radium test to your regular well testing routine. If it comes back elevated, reverse osmosis is the standard, proven fix for radium at the point of use. It's not a system you need to guess about installing. Test first, then treat what the test actually shows.
For more on what 30 years of testing both well and city water in this region has taught me, see well water vs. city water: what 30 years of testing taught me, and for how these towns compare on plain hardness, see the hardest water towns we serve, ranked by the numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is radium dangerous at any level?
Does a regular water softener remove radium?
Schedule a Free Water Test With Jones Air & Water
If you're in Lincoln County and you've never tested specifically for radium, whether you're on a private well or a public system, we'll help you figure out whether it's worth testing for and what a result would actually mean for your home.
Schedule your free water test or see the reverse osmosis systems we install for radium and other dissolved contaminants.