Manganese is worth checking in Calhoun County wells.
1 worth checking, 2 rare out of 3 health checks.
From 15 wells tested in Calhoun County since 2001; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
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 7 people 15,850 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Likely here. Test your home's air first.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Calhoun County compares with Alabama and the counties around it.
Each result puts Calhoun County next to the 5 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is worth checking in Calhoun County.
Manganese2 of 15 wells over
These 2 are rare in Calhoun County.
Nitrate0 of 13 wells over
Fluoride0 of 15 wells over
Every well needs a bacteria test every year.
No bacteria tests from Calhoun County wells are in the public data. Test every year anyway.
Iron reached staining levels in 4 of 15 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains4 of 15 wells had it
Most of the 15 wells tested in Calhoun County were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 15 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Calhoun 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 4 things to check in Calhoun County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- 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 Calhoun County.
Calhoun County is in the EPA's highest radon zone. Radon from well water adds to the radon in your indoor air, so test your air first, and your water too if the air is high. Radon guide
Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 6 town water systems in Calhoun County test for PFAS. 2 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 Calhoun 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 Calhoun County
Is well water in Calhoun County safe to drink?
2 of 15 wells tested in Calhoun County had manganese over the limit, about 1 in 8. Across Alabama it's about 1 in 11. That's the highest share among the 4 Alabama counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 1 county whose results are likely overstated. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Calhoun 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, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Calhoun County.
How often should I test my well in Calhoun County?
Calhoun County has no public bacteria results for wells, so follow the CDC's advice: 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 Calhoun County numbers come from
- People on wells: 15,850 in Calhoun County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 58 well water samples from 15 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2001 to 2003.
- Neighboring counties: the 5 counties that share a border with Calhoun County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 6 town water systems in Calhoun County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Calhoun County is zone 1 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.