Well water in Ramsey, Minnesota

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Testing recommended

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

567 test results across 10 contaminants from at least 56 wells, 1983 to 2025; chloride has the most at 132. Data refreshed September 3, 2026.

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

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Ramsey. 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 1996 to 2025	5%	39	33%	0	14.1	10 ug/L EPA limit
Lead 1996 to 2025	3%	39	13%	0	25	15 ug/L EPA limit
Nitrate 1983 to 2014	<1%	120	79%	1.3	13.9	10 mg/L EPA limit
Copper 1996 to 2025	0%	39	28%	0	0.125	1.3 mg/L EPA limit
Fluoride 1984 to 2025	0%	31	55%	0.1	0.222	4 mg/L EPA limit
Chloride 1984 to 2025	no limit	132	100%	42.9	340	250 mg/L nuisance level
Iron 1984 to 2025	no limit	73	71%	0	2,200	300 ug/L nuisance level
Sodium 1984 to 2025	no limit	49	100%	25.6	290	20 mg/L health guideline
Manganese 1984 to 2025	no limit	40	53%	0	730	300 ug/L health guideline

Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: PFOA (5).

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	0%48 samples	0%63 samples	n/a	n/a
Arsenic	n/a	n/a	4%26 samples	0%12 samples
Lead	n/a	n/a	0%26 samples	0%12 samples
Copper	n/a	n/a	0%26 samples	0%12 samples
Fluoride	0%10 samples	n/a	n/a	0%12 samples

Nitrate has held within a few points between the two most recent periods with enough samples.

Closer than the town

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 address

What this means

The contaminants most often above their limit here are arsenic (5% of 39 samples), lead (3% of 39 samples), and nitrate (<1% of 120 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.

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 Ramsey

1
Arsenic
5% of 39 local samples were above the limit.
2
Lead
3% of 39 local samples were above the limit.
3
Nitrate
<1% of 120 local samples were above the limit.
4
Coliform bacteria
Recommended for every private well, every year.
5
PFOA
Above the limit in 1 of 5 local samples; too few to quote a rate.
6
Chloride
Detected in 100% of local samples.
7
Iron
Detected in 71% of local samples.
8
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
44 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
9
Metals panel
3 hazardous waste sites on record locally.

Test your Ramsey well for arsenic, lead 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 $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 Minnesota: certified labs, state programs and prices.

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

Wells in Ramsey

2,878 domestic wells in Ramsey are on record with the state since 1967. 49% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 147 feet deep (one in ten goes past 222 feet).

In a typical Ramsey well, bedrock starts about 130 feet down.

1960s

721

1970s

831

1980s

891

1990s

358

2000s

2010s

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 Minnesota Well Index and choose Water Well.
The record shows depth, casing, depth to bedrock, aquifer, static water level and the driller; new wells since 2008 also show the arsenic test result.

Wells drilled since 1974 have records; older wells appear only if a later owner reported them.

The rock under Ramsey

Not a principal aquifer

The USGS map places this area outside any principal aquifer, which usually means wells here draw from fractured bedrock or thin local deposits rather than a large regional aquifer. Bedrock wells of that kind are where arsenic, radon and uranium turn up, and yields vary from well to well.

Classification from the USGS Principal Aquifers of the United States (national map, 2003 edition, GIS release 2015), read at the town centroid. A single well can sit in a different unit, especially near a boundary.

Official help in Minnesota

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.

Wells and Borings, Minnesota Department of Health
Accredited Laboratories as Well Partners, Minnesota Department of Health

Contamination sources on record in Ramsey

MPCA records 44 leaking underground storage tank sites and 3 hazardous waste sites in Ramsey, among 136 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.

44: leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
3: hazardous waste sitesSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
50: 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
38: other remediation projects

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

Nitrate

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

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 Ramsey

No water treatment company serves Ramsey 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 Ramsey, and you get an email naming it first.

Common questions

How deep are wells in Ramsey?

The typical domestic well in Ramsey is 147 feet deep, based on 2,878 wells reported to the state since 1967. One in ten is deeper than 222 feet. 49% are drilled into bedrock.

Is there arsenic in well water in Ramsey?

Arsenic was detected in 33% of 39 public well samples in Ramsey, and 5% 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 Ramsey?

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 near Ramsey

Closest first. Groundwater does not stop at a line on a map, so the next town over is a fair second opinion.

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

Sources

USGS Water Quality Portal: 567 samples in Ramsey. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
Minnesota Well Index: 3,101 well records in Ramsey, 2,878 domestic. Well construction records from the Minnesota Well Index (Minnesota Department of Health), non-public-supply wells. Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. Retrieved September 15, 2026.
MPCA regulated sites: 136 regulated sites located in Ramsey. Tank, leak, remediation, Superfund and landfill sites from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency What's In My Neighborhood database. 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.