Data & Methodology — Lowndes County Well Water

Contaminant Data — All Analytes

336 well testing events on record, covering 22 analytes. Data spans 1932 to 2026.

Contaminant	Samples	Years	Detection Rate	vs. Limit	vs. GA Avg
PFOS municipal	20	2023–2025	25%	162% of limit	~ typical
Arsenic	78	1967–2015	69%	20% of limit	↑ 237% above
Manganese	248	1951–2015	59%	40% of limit	↓ 33% below
Iron	278	1967–2015	70%	13% of limit	↓ 68% below
PFOA municipal	20	2023–2025	5%	152% of limit	~ typical
Sulfate	294	1932–2015	93%	2% of limit	↓ 21% below
Fluoride	236	1941–2015	96%	8% of limit	↑ 50% above
PFNA municipal	20	2023–2025	0%	—	—
Chloride	256	1932–2015	100%	1% of limit	↓ 31% below
PFNA municipal	20	2023–2025	0%	—	—
Chloride	256	1932–2015	100%	1% of limit	↓ 31% below
Nitrite	124	1970–2015	8%	1% of limit	~ typical
HFPO-DA (GenX) municipal	20	2023–2025	0%	—	—
Radon	14	1991–2015	100%	18% of limit	~ typical
Uranium	3	1993–2015	33%	2% of limit	↑ 338% above
Lead	125	1967–2015	2%	3% of limit	↑ 98% above
Nitrate	133	1932–2015	58%	0% of limit	↓ 100% below
PFHxS municipal	20	2023–2025	5%	32% of limit	↓ 24% below
PFBS municipal	20	2023–2025	5%	—	↑ 42% above
Hardness	240	1932–2015	100%	—	↑ 56% above
pH	297	1951–2015	100%	—	~ typical
Sodium	227	1932–2015	100%	—	↓ 52% below

Distribution shows the share of samples in each concentration band relative to the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): Low = below half the MCL, Moderate = between half and the MCL, High = above the MCL. Analytes without an MCL (e.g. sodium, pH) show — in the limit columns. State average is based on county median values across GA.

Data Coverage & Gaps

Well-sampled analytes (15+ samples)

Arsenic 78 samples
Manganese 248 samples
Iron 278 samples
Sulfate 294 samples
Fluoride 236 samples
Chloride 256 samples
Chloride 256 samples
Nitrite 124 samples
Lead 125 samples
Nitrate 133 samples
Hardness 240 samples
pH 297 samples
Sodium 227 samples

Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution

Radon 14 samples
Uranium 3 samples

No private-well PFAS data for Lowndes County

We have no private well sampling data for PFAS compounds (PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, and related chemicals) in Lowndes County. PFAS has been detected in local public water systems (UCMR 5 data) — indicated by the "municipal" badge in the table above — but this does not directly indicate private well contamination. PFAS testing for private wells requires a dedicated lab panel (~$300–$500). If you are near a military base, airport, or industrial site, consider testing proactively. Learn more about PFAS →

Public vs. Private Water in Lowndes County

78 Active public water systems

96,734 Residents on public water

Public water systems in Lowndes County are regulated by the EPA and must test and report contaminant levels. Private well owners are responsible for their own testing — there is no routine monitoring of private wells by any government agency.

CDC Health Outcome Correlations

Where contaminants detected in Lowndes County have established associations with specific health outcomes, we cross-reference CDC PLACES county-level prevalence data. This is a contextual signal, not a causal claim.

Contaminant	Associated Condition	Lowndes County Prevalence	GA Average	Source Year
Arsenic	Cancer prevalence	5.4%	6.3%	2020
Arsenic	Kidney disease rate	3.2%	3.6%	2020

Data Sources

This report aggregates data from the following public databases:

Water Quality Portal (WQP) — groundwater sample results for Lowndes County from EPA, USGS, and state agencies. Browse WQP data →
EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) — public water system inventory used to estimate the share of residents on private wells. Browse SDWIS →
Census ACS 5-Year Estimates — well and cistern household counts (variable DP04_0074E) used to calculate the private-well percentage for Lowndes County. Census data explorer →
USGS Aquifer Atlas — principal aquifer type underlying Lowndes County, which informs which contaminants are geologically likely. USGS Aquifer Atlas →
EPA UCMR 5 (2023–2025) — PFAS occurrence data from public water systems, used as a proxy indicator for aquifer PFAS exposure. Rows marked "municipal" in the table above come from this source. About UCMR 5 →
EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) — industrial facility chemical releases near Lowndes County, used in contamination risk scoring. TRI Explorer →
EPA Superfund NPL — National Priorities List sites in or near Lowndes County, used in contamination risk scoring. Superfund site search →
CDC PLACES — county-level health outcome prevalence (kidney disease, cancer, heart disease) correlated with detected contaminants. About CDC PLACES →

Methodology

Raw records are downloaded from the Water Quality Portal and normalized to µg/L (ppb). Records are deduplicated by sample ID and date, and certified outliers are excluded. Analyte names are mapped to EPA canonical forms. Detection rates, distribution bands, and MCL comparisons are computed from the normalized dataset.

Distribution bands use the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level as the threshold: concentrations below 50% of the MCL are classed as Low, between 50% and 100% as Moderate, and above 100% as High. For analytes without an MCL (sodium, hardness, pH), distribution is not computed.

State comparison uses the median of county median values across all counties in GA with at least one sample for that analyte.

Last updated: 2026-08-03

Full methodology →