Arsenic and nitrate are widespread in Kent County wells.
2 widespread, 4 rare out of 6 health checks.
From 84 wells tested in Kent County since 2000; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: uranium (9).
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 3 people 71,668 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
How deep wells go here
Shallow wells: watch for fertilizer and germs from above.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Less likely, but the EPA still says test your air.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Kent County compares with Delaware and the counties around it.
Each result puts Kent County next to the 8 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
These 2 are widespread in Kent County wells.
Arsenic9 of 27 wells over
Nitrate13 of 84 wells over
* Likely overstated, so we don't rank it.
Too few tested to show: Cape May, NJ.
These 4 are rare in Kent County.
Manganese2 of 50 wells over
Lead0 of 13 wells over
Too few tested to show: Cape May, NJ, Kent, MD, New Castle.
Radon in water0 of 20 wells over
Too few tested to show: Cape May, NJ, Kent, MD, Salem, NJ.
Fluoride0 of 45 wells over
Too few Kent County wells were tested for this one.
Uranium9 wells tested
Coliform bacteria turned up in 2 of 4 tested Kent County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria2 of 4 wells had it
E. coli0 of 4 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Kent County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 14 of 84 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains14 of 84 wells had it
About 5 in 10 of the 84 wells tested in Kent County have a test from 2020 or later.
With 42 wells tested since 2020, age matters less here than who did the testing and why.
Most Kent 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 Kent County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Arsenic
What Delaware offers well owners
- Free testingDPH offers free test kits for bacteria and ten chemical parameters, and DNREC and DHSS offer free sampling for PFAS and other contaminants to private well users. See the program
- Certified labsDelaware's list of certified labs
- Well recordsDelaware's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 50 feet.
That comes from 5,968 household wells in Delaware's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 50 to 120 feet deep. Wells as shallow as Kent County's pick up bacteria and nitrate from the surface more easily, so the yearly test matters even more here.
Look up your own well's depth in Delaware'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 Kent County.
Kent 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 8 town water systems in Kent County test for PFAS. 1 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 9.8 ng/L of PFOA. Only 4 wells in Kent County have 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 Kent County
Is well water in Kent County safe to drink?
9 of 27 wells tested in Kent County had arsenic over the limit, about 1 in 3. Across Delaware it's about 1 in 7. So test your own well for arsenic before you count on it.
Can I get my well tested for free in Kent County?
DPH offers free test kits for bacteria and ten chemical parameters, and DNREC and DHSS offer free sampling for PFAS and other contaminants to private well users. If not, use a lab Delaware has certified for drinking water. Ask for bacteria, nitrate and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Kent County.
How deep are wells in Kent County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 50 feet.
How does Kent County compare with the counties around it?
For arsenic, the share of tested wells over the limit: Kent County, at 33%, had a higher share than all 8 neighboring counties with data. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Kent, MD's 30% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Kent County?
In Kent County, 2 of 4 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 Kent County numbers come from
- People on wells: 71,668 in Kent County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 719 well water samples from 84 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2026.
- Well depths: 5,968 Delaware drilling records for Kent County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 8 counties that share a border with Kent County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 8 town water systems in Kent County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Kent County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Health (with DNREC), checked November 1, 2026.