Manganese is worth checking in Boone County wells.

1 worth checking, 5 rare out of 6 health checks.

From 10 wells tested in Boone County since 2003; your own well needs its own test. How to read this

Tested wells over the limit BooneWest Virginia

Manganese10%1 of 10 Arsenic0%0 of 10 Lead0%0 of 10 Nitrate0%0 of 10 Fluoride0%0 of 10 Radon0%0 of 10

GermsTest every year, whatever the chart says

Coliform bacteria20%2 of 10 E. coli0%0 of 10

StainsNot a health risk

Iron stains40%4 of 10

Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: uranium (5).

Rare: under 5%Worth checking: 5 to 15%Widespread: 15%+

Lab results: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA)

Show bacteria and iron

Who drinks from a well here

7 in 10 people 16,089 people

Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.

People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate

Radon risk (a gas from rock)

LowMiddleHigh

Less likely, but the EPA still says test your air.

Radon zones: EPA map

Here's how Boone County compares with West Virginia and the counties around it.

Each result puts Boone County next to the 5 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.

This one is worth checking in Boone County.

Manganese1 of 10 wells over

1 of 10 wells tested here from 2003 to 2017 was over the EPA health advisory of 0.3 mg/L, against about 1 in 4 across West Virginia. Half the results were under 0.017 mg/L, and the top 1 in 10 were 0.15 mg/L or more. That's a smaller share than in 10 of the 12 other West Virginia counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Boone and its neighbors

Wyoming71%

Raleigh60%

Kanawha20%

Boone10%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, Logan.

Manganese guide

These 5 are rare in Boone County.

Arsenic0 of 10 wells over

None of the 10 wells tested here from 2003 to 2017 were over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L, against about 1 in 19 across West Virginia. Boone County had none, while 5 of the 12 other West Virginia counties with 10 or more tested wells had at least one.

Boone and its neighbors

Kanawha7%

Boone0%

Raleigh0%

Wyoming0%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, Logan.

Arsenic guide

Lead0 of 10 wells over

None of the 10 wells tested here from 2003 to 2017 were over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L, against under 1 in 50 across West Virginia. Boone County had none, while 3 of the 12 other West Virginia counties with 10 or more tested wells had at least one.

Boone and its neighbors

Kanawha7%

Boone0%

Raleigh0%

Wyoming0%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, Logan.

Lead guide

Nitrate0 of 10 wells over

None of the 10 wells tested here from 2003 to 2017 were over the EPA limit of 10 mg/L, against under 1 in 100 across West Virginia. Boone County had none, while 1 of the 12 other West Virginia counties with 10 or more tested wells had at least one.

Boone and its neighbors

Boone0%

Kanawha0%

Raleigh0%

Wyoming0%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, Logan.

Nitrate guide

Fluoride0 of 10 wells over

None of the 10 wells tested here from 2003 to 2017 were over the EPA limit of 4 mg/L, against under 1 in 100 across West Virginia. Half the results were under 0.3 mg/L, and the top 1 in 10 were 0.7 mg/L or more. Boone County had none, and neither did any of the 12 other West Virginia counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Boone and its neighbors

Boone0%

Kanawha0%

Raleigh0%

Wyoming0%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, Logan.

Radon in water0 of 10 wells over

None of the 10 wells tested here from 2003 to 2017 were over 4,000 pCi/L, a level the EPA proposed, against none across West Virginia. Half the results were under 78 pCi/L, and the top 1 in 10 were 300 pCi/L or more. Boone County had none, and neither did any of the 11 other West Virginia counties with 10 or more tested wells.

Boone and its neighbors

Boone0%

Kanawha0%

Wyoming0%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, Logan, Raleigh.

Radon guide

Too few Boone County wells were tested for this one.

Uranium5 wells tested

Only 5 wells here were tested in 2017, too few to say how common it is. Across West Virginia it's none.

Uranium guide

Coliform bacteria turned up in 2 of 10 tested Boone County wells, so test for it every year.

Coliform bacteria2 of 10 wells had it

2 of 10 wells tested here from 2003 to 2017 had coliform bacteria, against about 6 in 10 across West Virginia.

Boone and its neighbors

Kanawha62%

Wyoming59%

Raleigh50%

Boone20%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, Logan.

Bacteria guide

E. coli0 of 10 wells had it

None of the 10 wells tested here from 2003 to 2017 had E. coli, against about 1 in 7 across West Virginia.

Boone and its neighbors

Raleigh20%

Wyoming6%

Boone0%

Kanawha0%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, Logan.

E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Boone County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.

Bacteria guide

Iron reached staining levels in 4 of 10 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.

Iron stains4 of 10 wells had it

About 4 in 10 wells tested here from 2003 to 2017 had enough iron to stain (0.3 mg/L), against about 5 in 10 across West Virginia.

Boone and its neighbors

Wyoming94%

Kanawha73%

Raleigh60%

Boone40%

Too few tested to show: Lincoln, Logan.

Iron guide

Most of the 10 wells tested in Boone County were last tested before 2010.

5 wells had a test in the 2000s and 5 in the 2010s.

An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 10 wells as a starting point and test your own.

Most Boone 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 Boone County.

Bacteria
Nitrate
Manganese
Arsenic

What West Virginia offers well owners

Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of West Virginia. West Virginia's private well page
Certified labsWest Virginia's list of certified labs
Well recordsWe didn't find an online search.

Here's what we know about radon and PFAS in Boone County.

Boone County is in the EPA's lowest radon zone, so radon from well water is unlikely to be a problem. Radon guide

Radon zones: EPA Map of Radon Zones

Next door to Boone County

Kanawha

Elsewhere in West Virginia

Jefferson Hampshire Preston

All of West Virginia

Questions people ask about well water in Boone County

Is well water in Boone County safe to drink?

1 of 10 wells tested in Boone County had manganese over the limit, about 1 in 10. Across West Virginia it's about 1 in 4. That's a smaller share than in 10 of the 12 other West Virginia counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.

Where can I get my well tested in Boone County?

Use a lab West Virginia has certified for drinking water. West Virginia's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Boone County.

How does Boone 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 Boone County, at 10%. Wyoming had the most, at 71%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Wyoming's 71% is worth knowing about if you live near it.

How often should I test my well in Boone County?

In Boone County, 2 of 10 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.

By the Tested Water teamData from the USGS, EPA and Department of Health, Office of Environmental Health Services, with local health departmentsUpdated November 8, 2026

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Where the Boone County numbers come from

People on wells: 16,089 in Boone County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
Lab tests: 95 well water samples from 10 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2003 to 2017.
Neighboring counties: the 5 counties that share a border with Boone County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
Radon: Boone County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
State programs and links: Department of Health, Office of Environmental Health Services, with local health departments, checked November 1, 2026.

Download this county's data (CSV)How we read these numbers Report an error