Manganese is widespread in Sunflower County wells.
1 widespread, 3 rare out of 4 health checks.
From 15 wells tested in Sunflower County since 2010; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: uranium (6), lead (6).
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 8 people 3,105 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)
Less likely, but the EPA still says test your air.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Sunflower County compares with Mississippi and the counties around it.
Each result puts Sunflower County next to the 6 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is widespread in Sunflower County wells.
Manganese15 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Coahoma, Humphreys, Tallahatchie.
These 3 are rare in Sunflower County.
Arsenic0 of 10 wells over
Too few tested to show: Coahoma, Humphreys, Tallahatchie.
Nitrate0 of 11 wells over
Too few tested to show: Bolivar, Coahoma, Humphreys, Tallahatchie.
Fluoride0 of 11 wells over
Too few tested to show: Bolivar, Coahoma, Humphreys, Tallahatchie.
Too few Sunflower County wells were tested for these 2.
Uranium6 wells tested
Lead6 wells tested
Every well needs a bacteria test every year.
No bacteria tests from Sunflower County wells are in the public data. Test every year anyway.
Iron reached staining levels in 15 of 15 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains15 of 15 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Coahoma, Humphreys, Tallahatchie.
Sunflower County has 15 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2010s.
Only 1 of the 15 wells have a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.
Most Sunflower 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 Sunflower 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 800 feet.
That comes from 401 household wells in Mississippi's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 112 to 125 feet deep. Wells as deep as Sunflower 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. That's the deepest typical depth for household wells among the 82 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 Sunflower County.
Sunflower 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 1 town water system in Sunflower County test for PFAS. None found any. No well in Sunflower 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 Sunflower County
Is well water in Sunflower County safe to drink?
15 of 15 wells tested in Sunflower County had manganese over the limit, almost all. Across Mississippi it's about 1 in 3. That's the highest share among the 5 Mississippi 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 Sunflower 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 Sunflower County.
How deep are wells in Sunflower County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 800 feet. That's the deepest typical depth for household wells among the 82 Mississippi counties with enough drilling records.
How does Sunflower County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: Sunflower County, at 100%, had a higher share than all 3 neighboring counties with data. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Washington's 91% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Sunflower County?
Sunflower 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 Sunflower County numbers come from
- People on wells: 3,105 in Sunflower County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 102 well water samples from 15 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2010 to 2020.
- Well depths: 401 Mississippi drilling records for Sunflower County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 6 counties that share a border with Sunflower County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 1 town water systems in Sunflower County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Sunflower County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Mississippi State Department of Health, checked November 1, 2026.