Manganese has turned up often in Rolette County wells, mostly from one small area.
1 likely overstated, 2 rare out of 3 health checks.
From 15 wells tested in Rolette County since 2012; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
*Manganese: All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.
Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: arsenic (3), lead (3).
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 6,980 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)
Likely here. Test your home's air first.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Rolette County compares with North Dakota and the counties around it.
Each result puts Rolette County next to the 3 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one has turned up often here, mostly from one small area.
Manganese8 of 15 wells over
All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.
These 2 are rare in Rolette County.
Fluoride0 of 15 wells over
Nitrate0 of 12 wells over
Too few Rolette County wells were tested for these 2.
Arsenic3 wells tested
Lead3 wells tested
Every well needs a bacteria test every year.
No bacteria tests from Rolette County wells are in the public data. Test every year anyway.
Iron reached staining levels in 11 of 14 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains11 of 14 wells had it
About 8 in 10 of the 15 wells tested in Rolette County have a test from 2020 or later.
With 12 wells tested since 2020, age matters less here than who did the testing and why.
Most Rolette 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 Rolette County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Arsenic
What North Dakota offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of North Dakota. North Dakota's private well page
- Certified labsNorth Dakota's list of certified labs
- Well recordsNorth Dakota's well record search
Half the wells on record here are shallower than 100 feet.
That comes from 208 wells in North Dakota's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 61 to 180 feet deep. Wells as deep as Rolette 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 17 of the 27 other North Dakota counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in North Dakota'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 Rolette County.
Rolette 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
Radon zones: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Questions people ask about well water in Rolette County
Is well water in Rolette County safe to drink?
8 of 15 wells tested in Rolette County had manganese over the limit, about 5 in 10. Across North Dakota it's about 4 in 10. We don't rank this against other North Dakota counties, because most of these tests come from one small area. All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey 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 Rolette County?
Use a lab North Dakota has certified for drinking water. North Dakota's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Rolette County.
How deep are wells in Rolette County?
Half the wells on record here are shallower than 100 feet. Typical wells on record here are shallower than in 17 of the 27 other North Dakota counties with enough drilling records.
How often should I test my well in Rolette County?
Rolette 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 Rolette County numbers come from
- People on wells: 6,980 in Rolette County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 62 well water samples from 15 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2012 to 2022.
- Well depths: 7 North Dakota drilling records for Rolette County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 3 counties that share a border with Rolette 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: Rolette County is zone 1 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Environmental Quality, checked November 1, 2026.