Radon and uranium are widespread in Sussex County wells.
2 widespread, 1 worth checking, 4 rare out of 7 health checks.
From 36 wells tested in Sussex 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
5 in 10 people 72,207 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 Sussex County compares with New Jersey and the counties around it.
Each result puts Sussex County next to the 6 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
These 2 are widespread in Sussex County wells.
Radon in water8 of 23 wells over
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Morris, Passaic, Warren.
Uranium5 of 23 wells over
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Passaic, Warren.
This one is worth checking in Sussex County.
Nitrate2 of 35 wells over
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Passaic.
These 4 are rare in Sussex County.
Arsenic1 of 25 wells over
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Passaic.
Manganese0 of 35 wells over
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Passaic.
Lead0 of 14 wells over
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Passaic.
Fluoride0 of 17 wells over
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Passaic.
Coliform bacteria turned up in 1 of 12 tested Sussex County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria1 of 12 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Morris, Passaic, Warren.
E. coli0 of 12 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Morris, Passaic, Warren.
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Sussex County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 3 of 35 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains3 of 35 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Monroe, PA, Passaic.
Most of the 36 wells tested in Sussex County were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 36 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Sussex 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 5 things to check in Sussex County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Radon in water
- Uranium
- 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 200 feet.
That comes from 251 wells in New Jersey's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 182 to 300 feet deep. Wells as deep as Sussex 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 go deeper than in 10 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 Sussex County.
Sussex 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 12 town water systems in Sussex County test for PFAS. 3 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 8 wells in Sussex 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 Sussex County
Is well water in Sussex County safe to drink?
8 of 23 wells tested in Sussex County had radon in water over the limit, about 1 in 3. Across New Jersey it's about 1 in 9. That's the highest share among the 7 New Jersey counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 1 county whose results are likely overstated. So test your own well for radon in water before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Sussex 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, radon in water, uranium and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Sussex County.
How deep are wells in Sussex County?
Half the wells on record here are shallower than 200 feet. Typical wells on record here go deeper than in 10 of the 19 other New Jersey counties with enough drilling records.
How does Sussex County compare with the counties around it?
For radon in water, the share of tested wells over the limit: Sussex County, at 35%, had a higher share than all 2 neighboring counties with data. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Orange, NY's 8% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Sussex County?
In Sussex County, 1 of 12 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 Sussex County numbers come from
- People on wells: 72,207 in Sussex County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 415 well water samples from 36 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2022.
- Well depths: 251 New Jersey drilling records for Sussex County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 6 counties that share a border with Sussex County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 12 town water systems in Sussex County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Sussex County is zone 1 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Environmental Protection, checked November 1, 2026.