Manganese has turned up often in Franklin County wells, mostly in older study samples.
1 likely overstated, 2 rare out of 3 health checks.
From 11 wells tested in Franklin County since 2002; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
*Manganese: All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey between 2002 and 2002 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 4,223 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)
Less likely, but the EPA still says test your air.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Franklin County compares with Mississippi and the counties around it.
Each result puts Franklin County next to the 5 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one has turned up often here, mostly in older study samples.
Manganese8 of 11 wells over
All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey between 2002 and 2002 in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.
These 2 are rare in Franklin County.
Nitrate0 of 11 wells over
Fluoride0 of 11 wells over
Every well needs a bacteria test every year.
No bacteria tests from Franklin County wells are in the public data. Test every year anyway.
Iron reached staining levels in 0 of 11 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains0 of 11 wells had it
All 11 wells tested in Franklin County were tested in 2002.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 11 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Franklin 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 Franklin County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Arsenic
What Mississippi offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Mississippi. Mississippi's private well page
- Certified labsMississippi's list of certified labs
- Well recordsWe didn't find an online search.
Half the household wells here are shallower than 148 feet.
That comes from 991 household wells in Mississippi's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 114 to 238 feet deep. Wells as deep as Franklin 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 are shallower than in 54 of the 81 other Mississippi counties with enough drilling records.
How to find your own well's depth
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Here's what we know about radon and PFAS in Franklin County.
Franklin County is in the EPA's lowest radon zone, so radon from well water is unlikely to be a problem. Radon guide
Radon zones: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Questions people ask about well water in Franklin County
Is well water in Franklin County safe to drink?
8 of 11 wells tested in Franklin County had manganese over the limit, about 7 in 10. Across Mississippi it's about 1 in 3. We don't rank this against other Mississippi counties, because most of these tests are old study samples. All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey between 2002 and 2002 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 Franklin County?
Use a lab Mississippi has certified for drinking water. Mississippi's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Franklin County.
How deep are wells in Franklin County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 148 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 54 of the 81 other Mississippi counties with enough drilling records.
How often should I test my well in Franklin County?
Franklin 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 Franklin County numbers come from
- People on wells: 4,223 in Franklin County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 44 well water samples from 11 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2002 to 2002.
- Well depths: 991 Mississippi drilling records for Franklin County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 5 counties that share a border with Franklin County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- Results marked likely overstated: our own check of who tested the wells, when and where.
- Radon: Franklin County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Mississippi State Department of Health, checked November 1, 2026.