Data & Methodology — Richmond County Well Water

Contaminant Data — All Analytes

231 well testing events on record, covering 24 analytes. Data spans 1946 to 2023.

Contaminant	Samples	Years	Detection Rate	vs. Limit	vs. GA Avg
PFOS municipal	20	2023–2025	20%	656% of limit	↑ 362% above
Iron	187	1955–2023	43%	15% of limit	↓ 63% below
PFHxS municipal	20	2023–2025	20%	234% of limit	↑ 457% above
PFOA municipal	20	2023–2025	10%	665% of limit	↑ 385% above
Manganese	179	1967–2023	90%	6% of limit	↓ 90% below
Radon	30	2013–2023	100%	61% of limit	↑ 237% above
Fluoride	180	1946–2023	46%	0% of limit	↓ 95% below
Uranium	10	1999–2019	20%	0% of limit	↓ 28% below
Sulfate	182	1946–2023	98%	0% of limit	↓ 93% below
Nitrate	135	1946–2023	96%	6% of limit	~ typical
Lead	156	1967–2023	80%	2% of limit	~ typical
Sulfate	182	1946–2023	98%	0% of limit	↓ 93% below
Nitrate	135	1946–2023	96%	6% of limit	~ typical
Lead	156	1967–2023	80%	2% of limit	~ typical
Uranium	10	1999–2019	20%	0% of limit	↓ 28% below
PFNA municipal	20	2023–2025	0%	—	—
Arsenic	155	1970–2023	6%	0% of limit	↓ 92% below
Chloride	189	1946–2023	100%	1% of limit	↓ 54% below
Hardness	201	1946–2023	100%	—	↓ 96% below
Total Coliform	1	2013–2019	0%	—	—
PFBS municipal	20	2023–2025	10%	—	↑ 25% above
E. coli	1	2013–2019	0%	—	—
pH	217	1955–2023	100%	—	↓ 30% below
Sodium	180	1958–2023	100%	—	↓ 74% 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)

Iron 187 samples
Manganese 179 samples
Radon 30 samples
Fluoride 180 samples
Sulfate 182 samples
Nitrate 135 samples
Lead 156 samples
Sulfate 182 samples
Nitrate 135 samples
Lead 156 samples
Arsenic 155 samples
Chloride 189 samples
Hardness 201 samples
pH 217 samples
Sodium 180 samples

Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution

Uranium 10 samples
Uranium 10 samples
Total Coliform 1 sample
E. coli 1 sample

No private-well PFAS data for Richmond County

We have no private well sampling data for PFAS compounds (PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, and related chemicals) in Richmond 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 Richmond County

8 Active public water systems

213,306 Residents on public water

Public water systems in Richmond 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 Richmond 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	Richmond County Prevalence	GA Average	Source Year
PFOA	Cancer prevalence	5.7%	6.3%	2020

Data Sources

This report aggregates data from the following public databases:

Water Quality Portal (WQP) — groundwater sample results for Richmond 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 Richmond County. Census data explorer →
USGS Aquifer Atlas — principal aquifer type underlying Richmond 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 Richmond County, used in contamination risk scoring. TRI Explorer →
EPA Superfund NPL — National Priorities List sites in or near Richmond 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 →