Manganese, arsenic and lead are worth checking in Preston County wells.
3 worth checking, 4 rare out of 7 health checks.
From 16 wells tested in Preston County since 2002; 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
1 in 2 people 14,604 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Likely here. Test your home's air first.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Preston County compares with West Virginia and the counties around it.
Each result puts Preston County next to the 7 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
These 3 are worth checking in Preston County.
Manganese2 of 16 wells over
Too few tested to show: Barbour, Fayette, PA, Grant, Monongalia, Taylor, Tucker.
Arsenic1 of 16 wells over
Too few tested to show: Barbour, Fayette, PA, Grant, Monongalia, Taylor, Tucker.
Lead1 of 16 wells over
Too few tested to show: Barbour, Fayette, PA, Grant, Monongalia, Taylor, Tucker.
These 4 are rare in Preston County.
Nitrate0 of 15 wells over
Too few tested to show: Barbour, Fayette, PA, Grant, Monongalia, Taylor, Tucker.
Fluoride0 of 16 wells over
Too few tested to show: Barbour, Fayette, PA, Grant, Monongalia, Taylor, Tucker.
Uranium0 of 10 wells over
Too few tested to show: Barbour, Fayette, PA, Grant, Monongalia, Taylor, Tucker.
Radon in water0 of 13 wells over
Too few tested to show: Barbour, Fayette, PA, Grant, Monongalia, Taylor, Tucker.
Coliform bacteria turned up in 6 of 12 tested Preston County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria6 of 12 wells had it
E. coli1 of 13 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Preston County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 7 of 16 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains7 of 16 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Barbour, Fayette, PA, Grant, Monongalia, Taylor, Tucker.
Preston County has 16 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2000s.
Only 3 of the 16 wells have a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.
Most Preston 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 Preston 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 Preston County.
Preston 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
Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 4 town water systems in Preston County test for PFAS. None found any. Only 1 well in Preston 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 Preston County
Is well water in Preston County safe to drink?
2 of 16 wells tested in Preston County had manganese over the limit, about 1 in 8. Across West Virginia it's about 1 in 4. That's a smaller share than in 9 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 Preston 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 Preston County.
How does Preston County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: Garrett, MD, the one neighbor with data, came in higher than Preston County, at 23% against 12%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Garrett, MD's 23% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Preston County?
In Preston County, 6 of 12 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 Preston County numbers come from
- People on wells: 14,604 in Preston County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 179 well water samples from 16 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2002 to 2021.
- Neighboring counties: the 7 counties that share a border with Preston County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 4 town water systems in Preston County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Preston County is zone 1 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.