Manganese is worth checking in Matanuska-Susitna Borough wells.
1 worth checking, 2 rare out of 3 health checks.
From 27 wells tested in Matanuska-Susitna Borough since 2000; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
*Manganese: All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey between 2000 and 2011 in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.
Rare: under 5%Worth checking: 5 to 15%Widespread: 15%+
Lab results: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA)
Who drinks from a well here
6 in 10 people 62,434 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
How deep wells go here
Middle depth: some shelter from the surface, not complete.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Possible here. A home air test is inexpensive.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Matanuska-Susitna Borough compares with Alaska and the counties around it.
Each result puts Matanuska-Susitna Borough next to the 8 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is worth checking in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Manganese3 of 26 wells over
All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey between 2000 and 2011 in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.
These 2 are rare in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Fluoride0 of 26 wells over
Nitrate0 of 26 wells over
Too few tested to show: Bethel, Chugach, Copper River, Denali, Kenai Peninsula, Southeast Fairbanks, Yukon-Koyukuk.
Every well needs a bacteria test every year.
No bacteria tests from Matanuska-Susitna Borough wells are in the public data. Test every year anyway.
Iron reached staining levels in 3 of 26 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains3 of 26 wells had it
Most of the 27 wells tested in Matanuska-Susitna Borough were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 27 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Matanuska-Susitna Borough 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 Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Arsenic
What Alaska offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Alaska. Alaska's private well page
- Certified labsAlaska's list of certified labs
- Well recordsAlaska's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 106 feet.
That comes from 4,415 household wells in Alaska's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 72 to 161 feet deep. Wells as deep as Matanuska-Susitna Borough's are usually better protected from fertilizer and bacteria at the surface, but they can pick up more of what's in the rock, like arsenic and uranium. Typical household wells here go deeper than in 2 of the 4 other Alaska counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Alaska's well record search, or see how to find it.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Here's what we know about radon and PFAS in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough is in the EPA's middle radon zone. An indoor air test is cheap and tells you whether to look at your water. Radon guide
Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 2 town water systems in Matanuska-Susitna Borough test for PFAS. 1 found some PFAS, all below the new limits. No well in Matanuska-Susitna Borough 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 Matanuska-Susitna Borough
Is well water in Matanuska-Susitna Borough safe to drink?
3 of 26 wells tested in Matanuska-Susitna Borough had manganese over the limit, about 1 in 9. Across Alaska it's about 1 in 10. We don't rank this against other Alaska counties, because most of these tests are old study samples. All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey between 2000 and 2011 in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Matanuska-Susitna Borough?
Use a lab Alaska has certified for drinking water. Alaska's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
How deep are wells in Matanuska-Susitna Borough?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 106 feet. Typical household wells here go deeper than in 2 of the 4 other Alaska counties with enough drilling records.
How does Matanuska-Susitna Borough compare with the counties around it?
For nitrate, the share of tested wells over the limit: Anchorage, the one neighbor with data, came in higher than Matanuska-Susitna Borough, at 1% against 0%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Anchorage's 1% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Matanuska-Susitna Borough?
Matanuska-Susitna Borough 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 Matanuska-Susitna Borough numbers come from
- People on wells: 62,434 in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 120 well water samples from 27 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2011.
- Well depths: 4,415 Alaska drilling records for Matanuska-Susitna Borough, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 8 counties that share a border with Matanuska-Susitna Borough, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- Results marked likely overstated: our own check of who tested the wells, when and where.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 2 town water systems in Matanuska-Susitna Borough under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Matanuska-Susitna Borough is zone 2 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Environmental Conservation, checked November 1, 2026.