Well water in Kent County, Michigan
1in4
Testing strongly recommended
private wells tested between 2017 and 2026 in Kent County had PFOA above the EPA limit (4 ng/L), according to EGLE North Kent Study Area residential well PFAS results.
1,595 private wells tested 2017 to 2026 in state summaries; 148 test results across 10 contaminants from at least 25 wells, 1965 to 1991; chloride has the most at 26. Data refreshed September 22, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
EGLE sampled every residential well in a defined study area around known tannery waste disposal sites in northern Kent County, so these shares describe wells near a known source rather than every well in the township.
An estimated 137,873 people in Kent County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 22% of residents.
Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 4% of the 137,873 people on private wells in Kent County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is 3% to 5%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.
What homeowner tests found
EGLE North Kent Study Area residential well PFAS results: private wells tested and reported to the state, 2017 to 2026. Shares are against the level the state applies to each contaminant, named in the last column; several are stricter than EPA. County and state figures combine the town summaries, weighted by wells tested; medians are not combined.
What individual samples found
Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Kent 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate 1965 to 1991 | 25 | 52% | 0 | 7.7 | 10 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Fluoride 1966 to 1990 | 18 | 100% | 0.3 | 0.8 | 4 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Arsenic 1975 to 1990 | 14 | 50% | 0.5 | 7 | 10 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Chloride 1965 to 1990 | no limit | 26 | 100% | 5.7 | 2,900 | 250 mg/L nuisance level |
| Iron 1965 to 1990 | no limit | 22 | 95% | 695 | 4,300 | 300 ug/L nuisance level |
| Manganese 1965 to 1990 | no limit | 18 | 78% | 100 | 770 | 300 ug/L health guideline |
| Sodium 1965 to 1990 | no limit | 15 | 100% | 17 | 1,200 | 20 mg/L health guideline |
Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Lead (4), Copper (3), Uranium (3).
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 homeowners in Kent County who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were PFOA (26% of 1,595 wells), PFOS (22% of 1,595 wells), and PFHxS (12% of 1,595 wells). These are ordinary wells tested by their owners, so the shares are the best available picture of a typical well here, with one caveat: people test more often when they suspect a problem.
What to test for in Kent County
- 1PFOA26% of 1,595 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
- 2PFOS22% of 1,595 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
- 3PFHxS12% of 1,595 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
- 4PFNA<1% of 1,595 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
- 5Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 6NitrateRecommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
- 7FluorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 8CopperDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 9Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)230 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
- 10Metals panel1,589 hazardous waste sites on record locally.
Test your Kent County well for PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS
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 Michigan: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Kent County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
Wells in Kent County
49,944 domestic wells in Kent County are on record with the state since 1946. 5% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 87 feet deep (one in ten goes past 180 feet).
In a typical Kent County well, bedrock starts about 167 feet down, the median yield is 35 gallons per minute, <1% of wells yield under 3 gallons per minute and usually need a storage tank.
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.
The rock under Kent County
Pennsylvanian aquifers
Sandstone. Sandstone wells draw from pore space in the rock and tend to be dependable. Iron, manganese and hardness are common, and some sandstones carry arsenic or radium, so a first test should include both.
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 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 Kent County
Michigan EGLE records 230 leaking underground storage tank sites and 1,589 hazardous waste sites in Kent County, among 3,348 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.
- 230
- leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
- 1,589
- hazardous waste sitesSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
- 1,528
- registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
- 1
- lined landfill or transfer facility
Treatment that fits the local profile
PFOA
Granular activated carbon whole-house; Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange
PFOS
Granular activated carbon whole-house; Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange
PFHxS
Granular activated carbon whole-house; Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange
Chloride
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Distillation
Iron
Oxidizing filter whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Aeration plus filtration
Manganese
Oxidizing filter (greensand, birm) whole-house; Water softener (low levels); 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 PFOA
Under-sink reverse osmosis system
under-sink or countertop, about $300
Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.
For PFOA
Whole-house PFAS carbon system
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $3,000
Granular activated carbon certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for PFOA and PFOS; replace media on schedule.
For PFOA
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 PFOS
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 PFOS
Aquasana HealthShield whole-house filter
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $2,099
Whole-house carbon system the maker certifies to reduce PFAS (PFOA and PFOS) and VOCs at every tap; a UV option adds bacteria protection.
For iron
Iron and manganese oxidizing filter
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $1,800
Air-injection or greensand media; fixes staining at the source.
Free, no obligation
Get on the list for a free in-home water test in Kent County
No water treatment company serves Kent 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 Kent County, and you get an email naming it first.
Common questions
How deep are wells in Kent County?
The typical domestic well in Kent County is 87 feet deep, based on 49,944 wells reported to the state since 1946. One in ten is deeper than 180 feet. 5% are drilled into bedrock.
Is there arsenic in well water in Kent County?
Arsenic was detected in 50% of 14 public well samples in Kent 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 Kent 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.
Towns in Kent County
28 towns have fewer than 30 public samples and are included in the Kent County totals above rather than shown separately: Ada township, Alpine township, Bowne township, Byron township, Caledonia township, Cannon township, Cascade charter township, Cedar Springs, Courtland township, East Grand Rapids, Gaines charter township, Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids charter township, Grandville, Grattan township, Kentwood, Lowell, Lowell charter township, Nelson township, Oakfield township, Rockford, Solon township, Sparta township, Spencer township, Tyrone township, Vergennes township, Walker, Wyoming.
Counties near Kent 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 Michigan dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 148 samples in Kent 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.
- EGLE North Kent Study Area residential well PFAS results: summaries for 4 contaminants in Kent County, up to 1,595 wells each. Residential well PFAS results from the Michigan EGLE North Kent Study Area investigation, one row per sampled well with the highest reading per compound, April 2017 to present. ArcGIS layer Residential_Well_Sample. Values are per-well maxima in ng/L and can include the untreated influent of a whole-house filter; Non-Detect counts as zero; Not Analyzed is skipped. No sample dates in the layer; the period is the program's stated span. Shares are against the EPA limit (4 ng/L PFOA and PFOS, 10 ng/L PFHxS and PFNA). Retrieved September 22, 2026.
- USGS national arsenic model (Ayotte 2017): estimated share of 137,873 people on private wells in Kent 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.
- Michigan Wellogic well records: 49,944 well records in Kent County, 49,944 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: 3,348 regulated sites located in Kent County. 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.