Manganese is widespread in Kanawha County wells.
1 widespread, 2 worth checking, 3 rare out of 6 health checks.
From 15 wells tested in Kanawha County since 2002; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
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)
Who drinks from a well here
1 in 7 people 25,699 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Less likely, but the EPA still says test your air.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Kanawha County compares with West Virginia and the counties around it.
Each result puts Kanawha County next to the 9 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is widespread in Kanawha County wells.
Manganese3 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane.
These 2 are worth checking in Kanawha County.
Arsenic1 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane.
Lead1 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane.
These 3 are rare in Kanawha County.
Nitrate0 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane.
Fluoride0 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane.
Radon in water0 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Raleigh, Roane.
Too few Kanawha County wells were tested for this one.
Uranium5 wells tested
Coliform bacteria turned up in 8 of 13 tested Kanawha County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria8 of 13 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane.
E. coli0 of 13 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane.
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Kanawha County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 11 of 15 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains11 of 15 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane.
Most of the 15 wells tested in Kanawha County were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 15 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Kanawha 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 Kanawha County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Arsenic
- Lead
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 Kanawha County.
Kanawha 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 2 town water systems in Kanawha County test for PFAS. None found any. No well in Kanawha 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 Kanawha County
Is well water in Kanawha County safe to drink?
3 of 15 wells tested in Kanawha County had manganese over the limit, about 2 in 10. Across West Virginia it's about 1 in 4. That's a smaller share than in 6 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 Kanawha 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, arsenic and lead, the tests that matter most in Kanawha County.
How does Kanawha County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: 1 of the 3 neighboring counties with data had a higher share than Kanawha County, at 20%. Raleigh had the most, at 60%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Raleigh's 60% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Kanawha County?
In Kanawha County, 8 of 13 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 Kanawha County numbers come from
- People on wells: 25,699 in Kanawha County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 142 well water samples from 15 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2002 to 2017.
- Neighboring counties: the 9 counties that share a border with Kanawha County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 2 town water systems in Kanawha County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Kanawha 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.