Manganese is widespread in Josephine County wells.
1 widespread, 1 worth checking, 4 rare out of 6 health checks.
From 37 wells tested in Josephine 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
6 in 10 people 52,396 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 Josephine County compares with Oregon and the counties around it.
Each result puts Josephine County next to the 5 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is widespread in Josephine County wells.
Manganese7 of 37 wells over
Too few tested to show: Del Norte, CA.
This one is worth checking in Josephine County.
Uranium2 of 21 wells over
Too few tested to show: Curry, Del Norte, CA.
These 4 are rare in Josephine County.
Arsenic1 of 37 wells over
Too few tested to show: Curry, Del Norte, CA.
Nitrate0 of 37 wells over
Too few tested to show: Del Norte, CA.
Lead0 of 29 wells over
Too few tested to show: Curry, Del Norte, CA.
Fluoride0 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Curry, Del Norte, CA, Douglas.
Coliform bacteria turned up in 1 of 7 tested Josephine County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria1 of 7 wells had it
E. coli0 of 7 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Josephine County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 16 of 37 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains16 of 37 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Del Norte, CA.
Josephine County has 37 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2010s.
Only 7 of the 37 wells have a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.
Most Josephine 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 Josephine County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Uranium
- Arsenic
What Oregon offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Oregon. Oregon's private well page
- Certified labsOregon's list of certified labs
- Well recordsOregon's well record search
- New wellsUnder the Domestic Well Testing Act, sellers must test the well for arsenic, nitrate and total coliform bacteria during a real estate transaction and send the results to the buyer and OHA within 90 days.
Half the household wells here are shallower than 126 feet.
That comes from 22,910 household wells in Oregon's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 90 to 200 feet deep. Wells as deep as Josephine 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 household wells here are shallower than in 25 of the 35 other Oregon counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Oregon'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 Josephine County.
Josephine 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 Josephine County test for PFAS. None found any. No well in Josephine 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 Josephine County
Is well water in Josephine County safe to drink?
7 of 37 wells tested in Josephine County had manganese over the limit, about 2 in 10. Across Oregon it's about 2 in 10. That's a bigger share than in 13 of the 25 other Oregon counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 2 counties 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 Josephine County?
Use a lab Oregon has certified for drinking water. Oregon's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese, uranium and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Josephine County.
How deep are wells in Josephine County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 126 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 25 of the 35 other Oregon counties with enough drilling records.
How does Josephine County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: 2 of the 4 neighboring counties with data had a higher share than Josephine County, at 19%. Douglas had the most, at 52%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Douglas's 52% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Josephine County?
In Josephine County, 1 of 7 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 Josephine County numbers come from
- People on wells: 52,396 in Josephine County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 343 well water samples from 37 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2022.
- Well depths: 22,910 Oregon drilling records for Josephine County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 5 counties that share a border with Josephine County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 1 town water systems in Josephine County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Josephine County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Oregon Health Authority, checked November 1, 2026.