Nitrate is worth checking in Baldwin County wells.
1 worth checking out of 1 health check.
From 15 wells tested in Baldwin County since 2004; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: arsenic (2), uranium (2), radon (2), manganese (6), lead (2), fluoride (6).
Rare: under 5%Worth checking: 5 to 15%Widespread: 15%+
Lab results: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA)
Who drinks from a well here
1 in 5 people 46,456 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Less likely, but the EPA still says test your air.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Baldwin County compares with Alabama and the counties around it.
Each result puts Baldwin County next to the 6 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is worth checking in Baldwin County.
Nitrate2 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Clarke, Escambia, Monroe, Washington.
Too few Baldwin County wells were tested for these 6.
Arsenic2 wells tested
Uranium2 wells tested
Radon in water2 wells tested
Manganese6 wells tested
Lead2 wells tested
Fluoride6 wells tested
Coliform bacteria turned up in 1 of 2 tested Baldwin County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria1 of 2 wells had it
E. coli0 of 2 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Baldwin County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 4 of 12 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains4 of 12 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Clarke, Escambia, Monroe, Washington.
About 3 in 10 of the 15 wells tested in Baldwin County have a test from 2020 or later.
With 5 wells tested since 2020, age matters less here than who did the testing and why.
Most Baldwin County wells in these records were tested for research or because someone suspected a problem, which can push the shares above what a typical home well would show (how we read the numbers).
One mail-in lab test covers the 3 things to check in Baldwin County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Arsenic
What Alabama offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Alabama. Alabama's private well page
- Certified labsAlabama's list of certified labs
- Well recordsWe didn't find an online search.
Here's what we know about radon and PFAS in Baldwin County.
Baldwin County is in the EPA's lowest radon zone, so radon from well water is unlikely to be a problem. Radon guide
Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 13 town water systems in Baldwin County test for PFAS. 3 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 15 ng/L of PFOS. No well in Baldwin County has public PFAS results, so the town systems are the best clue to what's in the groundwater nearby. PFAS guide
Radon zones: EPA Map of Radon Zones. PFAS: EPA tests of town water systems, 2023 to 2025
Questions people ask about well water in Baldwin County
Is well water in Baldwin County safe to drink?
2 of 15 wells tested in Baldwin County had nitrate over the limit, about 1 in 8. Across Alabama it's about 1 in 27. That's the highest share among the 6 Alabama counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for nitrate before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Baldwin County?
Use a lab Alabama has certified for drinking water. Alabama's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Baldwin County.
How does Baldwin County compare with the counties around it?
For nitrate, the share of tested wells over the limit: Baldwin County, at 13%, had a higher share than all 2 neighboring counties with data. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Escambia, FL's 0% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Baldwin County?
In Baldwin County, 1 of 2 tested wells had coliform bacteria, so the CDC's advice matters here: test for bacteria and nitrate every year, and right away after a flood, a repair, or any change in taste or smell.
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Where the Baldwin County numbers come from
- People on wells: 46,456 in Baldwin County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 84 well water samples from 15 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2004 to 2022.
- Neighboring counties: the 6 counties that share a border with Baldwin County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 13 town water systems in Baldwin County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Baldwin County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Public Health (county health departments); labs certified by Department of Environmental Management, checked November 1, 2026.