Well water in Putnam County, Tennessee
In Putnam County, chloride was detected in 100% of 144 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.
338 test results across 7 contaminants from at least 141 wells, 1954 to 1990; chloride has the most at 144. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
An estimated 1,641 people in Putnam County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 2% of residents.
Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that <1% of the 1,641 people on private wells in Putnam 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 Putnam 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 1954 to 1990 | 14 | 93% | 0.1 | 1.9 | 4 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Chloride 1954 to 1990 | no limit | 144 | 100% | 23 | 2,200 | 250 mg/L nuisance level |
| Iron 1954 to 1990 | no limit | 144 | 100% | 100 | 870 | 300 ug/L nuisance level |
| Sodium 1954 to 1990 | no limit | 14 | 100% | 2.6 | 1,490 | 20 mg/L health guideline |
| Manganese 1954 to 1990 | no limit | 13 | 100% | 30 | 780 | 300 ug/L health guideline |
Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Nitrate (8), Copper (1).
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 Putnam 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 Putnam County
- 1Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 2NitrateRecommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
- 3CopperDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 4ChlorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 5IronDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 6ManganeseDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 7FluorideDetected in 93% of local samples.
Test your Putnam County well for coliform bacteria, nitrate and copper
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 Tennessee: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Putnam County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
The rock under Putnam County
Mississippian aquifers
Sandstone and carbonate-rock. Layered sandstone and limestone means a well may draw from either. Hardness and iron are routine, and the limestone layers can carry bacteria and nitrate from the surface quickly, so test for both yearly.
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 Tennessee
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.
- Well Water, TDEC
- Lab Certification Program, TDEC
Contamination sources on record in Putnam County
TDEC underground storage tank facilities records 254 regulated sites in Putnam County, among 254 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.
- 254
- registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
Treatment that fits the local profile
Manganese
Oxidizing filter (greensand, birm) whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Point-of-use reverse osmosis
Systems we would look at first
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For manganese
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 Putnam County
No water treatment company serves Putnam 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 Putnam County, and you get an email naming it first.
Common questions
How often should I test a private well in Putnam 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 Putnam 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 Tennessee dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 338 samples in Putnam 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 1,641 people on private wells in Putnam 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.
- TDEC underground storage tank facilities: 254 regulated sites located in Putnam County. Underground storage tank facilities from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Retrieved September 18, 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.