Manganese and nitrate are worth checking in Gloucester County wells.
2 worth checking, 5 rare out of 7 health checks.
From 103 wells tested in Gloucester County since 2000; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
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 37,061 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 Gloucester County compares with New Jersey and the counties around it.
Each result puts Gloucester County next to the 7 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
These 2 are worth checking in Gloucester County.
Manganese7 of 94 wells over
Too few tested to show: Delaware, PA, Philadelphia, PA.
Nitrate5 of 77 wells over
Too few tested to show: Delaware, PA, Philadelphia, PA.
These 5 are rare in Gloucester County.
Lead2 of 65 wells over
Too few tested to show: Delaware, PA, New Castle, DE, Philadelphia, PA.
Arsenic1 of 90 wells over
Too few tested to show: Delaware, PA, Philadelphia, PA.
Radon in water0 of 31 wells over
Too few tested to show: Delaware, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Salem.
Uranium0 of 58 wells over
Too few tested to show: Delaware, PA, New Castle, DE, Philadelphia, PA, Salem.
Fluoride0 of 80 wells over
Too few tested to show: Delaware, PA, Philadelphia, PA.
None of the 8 Gloucester County wells tested for bacteria had it, but every well needs a yearly test.
Coliform bacteria0 of 8 wells had it
E. coli0 of 8 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Gloucester County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 32 of 102 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains32 of 102 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Delaware, PA, Philadelphia, PA.
Gloucester County has 103 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2000s.
Only 22 of the 103 wells have a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.
Most Gloucester 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 Gloucester County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Arsenic
What New Jersey offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of New Jersey. New Jersey's private well page
- Certified labsNew Jersey's list of certified labs
- Well recordsNew Jersey's well record search
- New wellsUnder the Private Well Testing Act (N.J.S.A. 58:12A-26 et seq.), every sale of property with a private potable well requires a water test before closing of title, and landlords must test at least every five years.
Half the wells on record here are shallower than 100 feet.
That comes from 2,883 wells in New Jersey's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 80 to 170 feet deep. Wells as deep as Gloucester 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 wells on record here are shallower than in 12 of the 19 other New Jersey counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in New Jersey'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 Gloucester County.
Gloucester County 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 19 town water systems in Gloucester County test for PFAS. 10 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 14 ng/L of PFOA. Only 9 wells in Gloucester 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 Gloucester County
Is well water in Gloucester County safe to drink?
7 of 94 wells tested in Gloucester County had manganese over the limit, about 1 in 13. Across New Jersey it's about 1 in 8. That's a smaller share than in 12 of the 16 other New Jersey counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Gloucester County?
Use a lab New Jersey has certified for drinking water. New Jersey's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Gloucester County.
How deep are wells in Gloucester County?
Half the wells on record here are shallower than 100 feet. Typical wells on record here are shallower than in 12 of the 19 other New Jersey counties with enough drilling records.
How does Gloucester County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: 3 of the 5 neighboring counties with data had a higher share than Gloucester County, at 7%. New Castle, DE had the most, at 24%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so New Castle, DE's 24% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Gloucester County?
None of the 8 wells tested for bacteria in Gloucester 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.
If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission. We'd recommend the same thing either way, and we'll tell you when a free option exists. How we make money
Where the Gloucester County numbers come from
- People on wells: 37,061 in Gloucester County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 1,243 well water samples from 103 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2023.
- Well depths: 2,883 New Jersey drilling records for Gloucester County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 7 counties that share a border with Gloucester County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 19 town water systems in Gloucester County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Gloucester County is zone 2 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Environmental Protection, checked November 1, 2026.