Well water in Michigan

1in5

Testing strongly recommended

tested well samples in Michigan exceeded the EPA limit for arsenic (10 ug/L), based on public data from USGS Water Quality Portal.

21,281 test results across 13 contaminants from at least 2,243 wells, 1884 to 2026; nitrate has the most at 4,184. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.

Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built

An estimated 2,597,314 people in Michigan get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use.

Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 7% of the 2,597,314 people on private wells in Michigan draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is 6% to 9%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Michigan. 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
Arsenic 1971 to 2024	19%	1,628	71%	1	360	10 ug/L EPA limit
Lead 1971 to 2024	5%	1,009	54%	0	6,300	15 ug/L EPA limit
Radium (226 + 228) 1988 to 2016	3%	262	84%	0.455	158	5 pCi/L EPA limit
Nitrate 1933 to 2026	3%	4,184	57%	0	142	10 mg/L EPA limit
Copper 1956 to 2024	<1%	1,015	62%	0	2.5	1.3 mg/L EPA limit
Fluoride 1901 to 2024	<1%	2,134	91%	0.21	12.6	4 mg/L EPA limit
Uranium 1929 to 2024	0%	553	82%	0.201	11	30 ug/L EPA limit
E. coli 1997 to 2017	0%	229	0%	0	0	0 MPN/100mL EPA limit
Iron 1897 to 2024	no limit	2,815	96%	700	960,000	300 ug/L nuisance level
Chloride 1884 to 2026	no limit	2,634	100%	12.8	190,000	250 mg/L nuisance level
Sodium 1884 to 2024	no limit	2,507	100%	13.4	78,000	20 mg/L health guideline
Manganese 1915 to 2024	no limit	2,137	92%	25	22,000	300 ug/L health guideline
Radon 1988 to 2014	no limit	174	92%	160	1,540	2,000 pCi/L health guideline

Over time

Share of samples above the limit by period. A cell needs ten samples to show; a comparison needs twenty in each period. Later periods sample fewer wells, and often the ones already known to have a problem.

Contaminant	before 2000	2000s	2010s	2020s
Nitrate	3%3,218 samples	9%328 samples	4%466 samples	5%172 samples
Fluoride	<1%1,779 samples	0%163 samples	0%142 samples	0%50 samples
Arsenic	21%1,313 samples	9%139 samples	7%153 samples	0%23 samples
Copper	<1%711 samples	0%131 samples	0%150 samples	0%23 samples
Lead	7%726 samples	0%131 samples	0%129 samples	0%23 samples
Uranium	0%302 samples	0%131 samples	0%110 samples	0%10 samples

Arsenic above the limit in Michigan fell from 7% of 153 samples in the 2010s to 0% of 23 in the 2020s.

Nitrate, fluoride, copper, lead, uranium have held within a few points between the two most recent periods with enough samples.

What this means

The contaminants most often above their limit here are arsenic (19% of 1,628 samples), lead (5% of 1,009 samples), and radium (226 + 228) (3% of 262 samples). A well next door can differ sharply from yours because bedrock fractures, well depth and plumbing all matter, so these rates describe the area, not your tap.

Iron, Chloride, 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 Michigan

1
Arsenic
19% of 1,628 local samples were above the limit.
2
Lead
5% of 1,009 local samples were above the limit.
3
Radium (226 + 228)
3% of 262 local samples were above the limit.
4
Nitrate
3% of 4,184 local samples were above the limit.
5
Copper
<1% of 1,015 local samples were above the limit.
6
Fluoride
<1% of 2,134 local samples were above the limit.
7
Coliform bacteria
Recommended for every private well, every year.
8
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
6,337 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
9
Metals panel
18,940 hazardous waste sites on record locally.

Test your Michigan well for arsenic, lead and radium (226 + 228)

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 $209 Already 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 Michigan: certified labs, state programs and prices.

Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Michigan numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.

Free, one email

Send me the Michigan report

The numbers above, which tests to order and where, and the treatment that fits the local profile, in one email.

Wells in Michigan

1,080,775 domestic wells in Michigan are on record with the state since 1901. 25% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 94 feet deep (one in ten goes past 204 feet).

In a typical Michigan well, bedrock starts about 72 feet down, the median yield is 25 gallons per minute, <1% of wells yield under 3 gallons per minute and usually need a storage tank.

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

119

1950s

35,683

1960s

154,530

1970s

148,809

1980s

272,976

1990s

248,042

2000s

123,605

2010s

88,557

2020s

Find your own well's report

The state keeps the driller's report for most wells drilled since 1984. It tells you how deep your well is, where bedrock starts, and how much water it makes, which decides what treatment can work.

Open Wellogic (EGLE) and choose Water Well.
The record lists depth, casing, static water level, the pump test and the geologic log.

Michigan has required well records since 1966, so most drilled wells are on file.

Official help in Michigan

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.

Private Residential Water Well Testing, Michigan EGLE
Laboratory certification program, Michigan EGLE

Contamination sources on record in Michigan

Michigan EGLE records 6,337 leaking underground storage tank sites and 18,940 hazardous waste sites in Michigan, among 51,117 regulated sites in total. Groundwater does not follow property lines, so a well within a few hundred feet of one of these is worth testing for what that site could release.

6,337: leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
18,940: hazardous waste sitesSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
25,782: registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
58: lined landfills and transfer facilities

Treatment that fits the local profile

Arsenic

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Adsorptive media (iron-based) whole-house; Anion exchange

Lead

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Certified lead-removal carbon filter; Neutralizing filter to raise pH and stop leaching

Radium (226 + 228)

Water softener (cation exchange); Point-of-use reverse osmosis

Nitrate

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange; Distillation

Copper

Neutralizing filter to raise pH; Point-of-use reverse osmosis

Systems we would look at first

Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, the merchant pays us a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change which products we list or what the data says.

For arsenic

Under-sink reverse osmosis system

under-sink or countertop, about $300

Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.

For arsenic

Whole-house arsenic and uranium filter

whole-house, at the point of entry, about $2,500

Adsorptive iron-based media; sized to your well yield.

For arsenic

Aquasana SmartFlow reverse osmosis

under-sink or countertop, about $225

Certified to NSF/ANSI 58 and 53 to reduce arsenic (96%, pentavalent), fluoride (90%), lead (99%), nitrate, nitrite and PFOA/PFOS at the kitchen tap, with a remineralizer.

For lead

Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage under-sink filter

under-sink or countertop, about $175

Certified to NSF/ANSI 53 to reduce 99% of lead and 99.7% of PFOA and PFOS at the tap. Not a fix for arsenic, nitrate or bacteria.

For lead

Acid neutralizing filter

whole-house, at the point of entry, about $1,200

Raises pH so plumbing stops leaching lead and copper.

Common questions

How deep are wells in Michigan?

The typical domestic well in Michigan is 94 feet deep, based on 1,080,775 wells reported to the state since 1901. One in ten is deeper than 204 feet. 25% are drilled into bedrock.

Is there arsenic in well water in Michigan?

Arsenic was detected in 71% of 1,628 public well samples in Michigan, and 19% 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 high is radon in well water in Michigan?

The median radon level across 174 public samples in Michigan was 160 pCi/L, with a high of 1,540 pCi/L. New Hampshire recommends treatment above 2,000 pCi/L.

How often should I test a private well in Michigan?

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 in Michigan

Want the numbers themselves? Download the Michigan dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.

Sources

USGS Water Quality Portal: 21,281 samples in Michigan. 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 2,597,314 people on private wells in Michigan 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.
Michigan Wellogic well records: 1,080,775 well records in Michigan, 1,080,775 domestic. Water well records from Wellogic, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy statewide well database. Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. Retrieved September 16, 2026.
Michigan EGLE regulated sites: 51,117 regulated sites located in Michigan. Part 201 environmental contamination sites, underground storage tank facilities and Part 115 landfills from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Retrieved September 16, 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.