Health problems are rare in tested Ocean County wells.
All 7 health checks came back rare here.
From 76 wells tested in Ocean 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
About 1 in 17 people 37,939 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 Ocean County compares with New Jersey and the counties around it.
Each result puts Ocean County next to the 3 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
All 7 health checks are rare in Ocean County.
Manganese0 of 70 wells over
Radon in water0 of 14 wells over
Too few tested to show: Monmouth.
Nitrate0 of 53 wells over
Uranium0 of 21 wells over
Arsenic0 of 41 wells over
Lead0 of 25 wells over
Fluoride0 of 63 wells over
Coliform bacteria turned up in 2 of 9 tested Ocean County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria2 of 9 wells had it
E. coli0 of 9 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Ocean County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 19 of 71 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains19 of 71 wells had it
Ocean County has 76 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2000s.
Only 19 of the 76 wells have a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.
Most Ocean 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 Ocean County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- 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 60 feet.
That comes from 42,531 wells in New Jersey's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 45 to 90 feet deep. Wells as deep as Ocean 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 18 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 Ocean County.
Ocean 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 29 town water systems in Ocean County test for PFAS. 7 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 12 ng/L of PFOA. Only 10 wells in Ocean 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 Ocean County
Is well water in Ocean County safe to drink?
Most tested wells in Ocean County came in under the limits. Of 7 health checks with enough tests, nitrate came closest, at 0 of 53 wells over. Every well is different, so test yours for bacteria, nitrate and arsenic.
Where can I get my well tested in Ocean 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 and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Ocean County.
How deep are wells in Ocean County?
Half the wells on record here are shallower than 60 feet. Typical wells on record here are shallower than in 18 of the 19 other New Jersey counties with enough drilling records.
How does Ocean County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: 3 of the 3 neighboring counties with data had a higher share than Ocean County, at 0%. Monmouth had the most, at 22%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Monmouth's 22% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Ocean County?
In Ocean County, 2 of 9 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 Ocean County numbers come from
- People on wells: 37,939 in Ocean County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 719 well water samples from 76 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2023.
- Well depths: 42,531 New Jersey drilling records for Ocean County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 3 counties that share a border with Ocean County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 29 town water systems in Ocean County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Ocean County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Environmental Protection, checked November 1, 2026.