Well Water in Gogebic County: What to Test and Why

Your well draws water from old red sandstone buried deep underground. This rock is very old and sits far below the surface. Water fills the tiny spaces between the sand grains and cracks in the stone. This sandstone layer is your county's main source of groundwater.

Iron, manganese, and lead come from the sandstone itself and from the rock layers above it. The sandstone contains iron minerals that dissolve into the water as it sits underground for years. Lead can come from pipes and metal parts in wells, not just from rock. The deep location and thick rock layers above provide some protection from surface pollution.

Your water is extremely hard and loaded with minerals. You have high iron, sodium, and sulfate that will stain your fixtures, build scale in pipes, and affect how your water tastes and feels. You need to test your well and talk to a treatment specialist about removing these minerals and checking for radon and lead.

Lead, iron, and manganese in your county's water exceed EPA health standards. Radon is also present at levels that require attention. This is a serious water quality issue that needs immediate testing of your specific well.

Long-term exposure to lead damages your brain and kidneys, especially in children. Iron and manganese stain your clothes, dishes, and plumbing fixtures orange and black. Your water likely tastes bad and smells like rotten eggs. The extremely high levels of sodium and sulfate make your water taste salty and leave crusty buildup on fixtures.

Get your well tested by a certified lab right away. A basic health screen costs fifty to one hundred dollars, but you need a full test including radon, lead, arsenic, iron, and sodium, which runs two hundred to four hundred dollars. A treatment system combining aeration and filtration can remove iron, manganese, and radon from your water.