Well water in Escambia County, Alabama
In Escambia County, chloride was detected in 100% of 556 tested well samples from USGS Water Quality Portal.
The strongest signal is coliform bacteria: Recommended for every private well, every year, too few samples to carry the headline but first on the test list below.
654 test results across 13 contaminants from at least 30 wells, 1955 to 2025; chloride has the most at 556. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
An estimated 6,950 people in Escambia County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 18% of residents.
Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that <1% of the 6,950 people on private wells in Escambia County draw water above 10 ug/L, from geology and well depth rather than local tests.
What individual samples found
Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Escambia County. Above limit means above the EPA maximum contaminant level; where EPA has no enforceable limit, the row shows a health guideline or nuisance level instead.
| Contaminant | Above limit | Samples | Detected | Median | Highest | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluoride 1955 to 2025 | 16 | 81% | 0.2 | 1 | 4 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Arsenic 1976 to 2025 | 10 | 90% | 1 | 4 | 10 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Lead 1976 to 2025 | 10 | 70% | 0 | 5.1 | 15 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Chloride 1955 to 2025 | no limit | 556 | 100% | 61.5 | 18,400 | 250 mg/L nuisance level |
| Iron 1955 to 2025 | no limit | 17 | 94% | 40 | 790 | 300 ug/L nuisance level |
| Sodium 1955 to 2025 | no limit | 15 | 100% | 26 | 89 | 20 mg/L health guideline |
| Manganese 1981 to 2025 | no limit | 10 | 70% | 0.27 | 20 | 300 ug/L health guideline |
Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Nitrate (6), Radium (226 + 228) (4), Uranium (3), Copper (3), E. coli (2), Radon (2).
Closer than the county
See the sampled wells near your address
The same records, drawn around one point: which wells within a few miles were sampled and what they found, how deep the wells next to you were drilled, and any leaking tank or cleanup site within a mile.
Check my addressWhat this means
Among contaminants with a federal limit, no tested sample in Escambia County came back above it. That is reassuring, but sampling is uneven: wells that were never tested are not in this data.
Chloride, Iron, and Manganese are widespread in local groundwater. They are mainly a staining and taste problem, but high manganese also carries a health advisory for infants.
What to test for in Escambia County
- 1Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 2RadonMedian local reading is 43 pCi/L.
- 3NitrateRecommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
- 4ChlorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 5IronDetected in 94% of local samples.
- 6FluorideDetected in 81% of local samples.
- 7ManganeseDetected in 70% of local samples.
Test your Escambia County well for coliform bacteria, radon and nitrate
Certified lab analysis of your own tap water, bottles and prepaid return shipping included. The Essential well panel covers arsenic, uranium, nitrate, lead, copper, manganese, iron, sodium and bacteria; radon and PFAS are add-ons.
Order the Tap Score well water test kit, from $209Already tested? Upload the report
Just want bacteria checked first? Tap Score coliform and E. coli test, $99. Coliform and E. coli are the tests every well needs every year.
Want a quick look before paying for a lab? Home well water test strips on Amazon check hardness, iron, pH and nitrate in minutes. They are a screen, not a result: arsenic, bacteria, uranium and PFAS need a certified lab.
Affiliate links: the merchant pays us a commission and the price is the same for you. It does not change what the data above says. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Where to get a well tested in Alabama: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Escambia County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
The rock under Escambia County
Coastal lowlands aquifer system
Semiconsolidated sand. Coastal plain sands like these give steady yields at moderate depth. Salt water and sodium are the usual issues near the coast, and nitrate where the water table is shallow; arsenic and radon from bedrock are less common.
Classification from the USGS Principal Aquifers of the United States (national map, 2003 edition, GIS release 2015), read at the county centroid. A single well can sit in a different unit, especially near a boundary.
Official help in Alabama
Two places to start that are not selling anything: the state program that answers private well questions, and its list of labs certified to run drinking water tests. A certified lab is the difference between a result you can act on and a number.
Treatment that fits the local profile
Chloride
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Distillation
Systems we would look at first
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For chloride
Under-sink reverse osmosis system
under-sink or countertop, about $300
Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.
Free, no obligation
Get on the list for a free in-home water test in Escambia County
No water treatment company serves Escambia County through Well Water Nerd yet. We are signing licensed companies on county by county: they test at your tap for free, walk you through the numbers, and quote treatment only if something needs fixing. Leave your details and you are first in line. Nothing is shared until a company joins for Escambia County, and you get an email naming it first.
Common questions
Is there arsenic in well water in Escambia County?
Arsenic was detected in 90% of 10 public well samples in Escambia County, and 0% were above the EPA limit of 10 ug/L. Arsenic has no taste or smell; a lab test is the only way to know your level.
How often should I test a private well in Escambia County?
Test for bacteria and nitrate every year. Test once for arsenic, uranium, radon, fluoride, manganese and PFAS, then again every three to five years or after any change in taste, color, or plumbing.
Counties near Escambia County
Closest first. Groundwater does not stop at a line on a map, so the next county over is a fair second opinion.
Want the numbers themselves? Download the Alabama dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 654 samples in Escambia County. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- USGS national arsenic model (Ayotte 2017): estimated share of 6,950 people on private wells in Escambia County above 10 ug/L of arsenic, from geology, well depth and land use. County estimates of domestic well users with arsenic above 10 ug/L from the USGS national logistic regression model (Ayotte, Medalie and Qi, 2017), with private well population from the USGS 2015 county water-use compilation (Dieter and others, 2018). Retrieved September 15, 2026.
Non-detects count as samples and are treated as zero when computing medians. Exactly at the limit counts as not above it. A sample belongs to the town containing the well's reported coordinates.