Manganese is widespread in Polk County wells.
1 widespread, 4 rare out of 5 health checks.
From 15 wells tested in Polk County since 2002; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: uranium (6), radon (2).
Rare: under 5%Worth checking: 5 to 15%Widespread: 15%+
Lab results: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA)
Who drinks from a well here
About 1 in 24 people 20,812 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
How deep wells go here
Deep wells: fewer surface germs, more minerals from the rock.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Likely here. Test your home's air first.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Polk County compares with Iowa and the counties around it.
Each result puts Polk County next to the 7 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is widespread in Polk County wells.
Manganese5 of 14 wells over
Too few tested to show: Madison, Warren.
These 4 are rare in Polk County.
Nitrate0 of 10 wells over
Too few tested to show: Boone, Madison, Marion, Warren.
Arsenic0 of 13 wells over
Too few tested to show: Madison, Warren.
Fluoride0 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Madison, Warren.
Lead0 of 13 wells over
Too few tested to show: Madison, Warren.
Too few Polk County wells were tested for these 2.
Uranium6 wells tested
Radon in water2 wells tested
None of the 2 Polk County wells tested for bacteria had it, but every well needs a yearly test.
Coliform bacteria0 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 Polk County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 6 of 14 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains6 of 14 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Madison, Warren.
Most of the 15 wells tested in Polk 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 Polk 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 Polk County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Arsenic
What Iowa offers well owners
- Free testingIowa's Private Well Grants program provides free testing for bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, and manganese through participating county environmental health offices. See the program
- Certified labsIowa's list of certified labs
- Well recordsIowa's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 270 feet.
That comes from 416 household wells in Iowa's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 20 to 180 feet deep. Wells as deep as Polk County'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 83 of the 92 other Iowa counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Iowa'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 Polk County.
Polk 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 11 town water systems in Polk County test for PFAS. 1 found some PFAS, all below the new limits. No well in Polk 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 Polk County
Is well water in Polk County safe to drink?
5 of 14 wells tested in Polk County had manganese over the limit, about 1 in 3. Across Iowa it's about 2 in 10. That's a bigger share than in 51 of the 67 other Iowa counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.
Can I get my well tested for free in Polk County?
Iowa's Private Well Grants program provides free testing for bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, and manganese through participating county environmental health offices. If not, use a lab Iowa has certified for drinking water. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Polk County.
How deep are wells in Polk County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 270 feet. Typical household wells here go deeper than in 83 of the 92 other Iowa counties with enough drilling records.
How does Polk County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: Polk County, at 36%, had a higher share than all 5 neighboring counties with data. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Dallas's 33% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Polk County?
None of the 2 wells tested for bacteria in Polk County had it, but the CDC still says to 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 Polk County numbers come from
- People on wells: 20,812 in Polk County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 143 well water samples from 15 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2002 to 2017.
- Well depths: 416 Iowa drilling records for Polk County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 7 counties that share a border with Polk County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 11 town water systems in Polk County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Polk County is zone 1 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Iowa Department of Natural Resources, checked November 1, 2026.