Manganese is widespread in Coffee County wells.
1 widespread, 2 rare out of 3 health checks.
From 20 wells tested in Coffee County since 2000; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: arsenic (3), uranium (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
1 in 2 people 25,058 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 Coffee County compares with Tennessee and the counties around it.
Each result puts Coffee County next to the 7 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is widespread in Coffee County wells.
Manganese4 of 20 wells over
These 2 are rare in Coffee County.
Nitrate0 of 20 wells over
Fluoride0 of 20 wells over
Too few Coffee County wells were tested for these 3.
Arsenic3 wells tested
Uranium3 wells tested
Lead3 wells tested
Every well needs a bacteria test every year.
E. coli1 of 3 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Coffee County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 3 of 20 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains3 of 20 wells had it
Most of the 20 wells tested in Coffee County were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 20 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Coffee 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 Coffee County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Arsenic
What Tennessee offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Tennessee. Tennessee's private well page
- Certified labsTennessee's list of certified labs
- Well recordsTennessee's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 79 feet.
That comes from 3,635 household wells in Tennessee's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 64 to 105 feet deep. Wells as deep as Coffee 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 92 of the 94 other Tennessee counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Tennessee'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 Coffee County.
Coffee 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 3 town water systems in Coffee 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. No well in Coffee 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 Coffee County
Is well water in Coffee County safe to drink?
4 of 20 wells tested in Coffee County had manganese over the limit, about 2 in 10. Across Tennessee it's about 1 in 10. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Coffee County?
Use a lab Tennessee has certified for drinking water. Tennessee's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Coffee County.
How deep are wells in Coffee County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 79 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 92 of the 94 other Tennessee counties with enough drilling records.
How often should I test my well in Coffee County?
Coffee 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.
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 Coffee County numbers come from
- People on wells: 25,058 in Coffee County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 142 well water samples from 20 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2022.
- Well depths: 3,635 Tennessee drilling records for Coffee County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 7 counties that share a border with Coffee County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 3 town water systems in Coffee County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Coffee County is zone 2 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Division of Water Resources, checked November 1, 2026.