Well water in Floyd County, Virginia
No public well test results have been compiled for Floyd County yet. The USGS national arsenic model estimates that <1% of the 13,291 people on private wells there draw water with arsenic above 10 ug/L, the EPA limit, based on geology, well depth and land use rather than local tests.
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.
156 test results across 12 contaminants from at least 13 wells, 1963 to 2000; manganese has the most at 18. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
An estimated 13,291 people in Floyd County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 85% of residents.
Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that <1% of the 13,291 people on private wells in Floyd County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is <1% to 1%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.
What individual samples found
Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Floyd 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 1963 to 2000 | 17 | 53% | 0 | 0.2 | 4 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Arsenic 1979 to 2000 | 13 | 8% | 0 | 3 | 10 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Nitrate 1979 to 2000 | 13 | 77% | 0.33 | 4.89 | 10 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Copper 1979 to 2000 | 12 | 83% | 0 | 0.008 | 1.3 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Lead 1979 to 2000 | 12 | 33% | 0 | 0 | 15 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Uranium 1997 to 2000 | 11 | 27% | 0 | 0.1 | 30 ug/L EPA limit | |
| Manganese 1963 to 2000 | no limit | 18 | 89% | 0.645 | 252 | 300 ug/L health guideline |
| Chloride 1963 to 2000 | no limit | 17 | 100% | 2.2 | 30.2 | 250 mg/L nuisance level |
| Sodium 1963 to 2000 | no limit | 17 | 100% | 3.78 | 7.87 | 20 mg/L health guideline |
| Iron 1963 to 2000 | no limit | 17 | 65% | 0 | 2,370 | 300 ug/L nuisance level |
Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: E. coli (4), Radon (5).
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 Floyd County came back above it. That is reassuring, but sampling is uneven: wells that were never tested are not in this data.
Manganese, Chloride, and Iron 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 Floyd County
- 1Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 2RadonMedian local reading is 830 pCi/L.
- 3NitrateRecommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
- 4ChlorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 5ManganeseDetected in 89% of local samples.
- 6CopperDetected in 83% of local samples.
- 7IronDetected in 65% of local samples.
- 8Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)100 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
Test your Floyd 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 Virginia: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Floyd County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
The rock under Floyd County
Piedmont and Blue Ridge crystalline-rock aquifers
Igneous and metamorphic-rock. Granite and similar crystalline rock hold water only in fractures. Wells are deep and yields modest, and the rock itself is the source of arsenic, radon and uranium, which is why those three head the test list in bedrock country.
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 Virginia
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 Well Program, VDH
- Drinking Water Laboratories, Virginia DCLS
Contamination sources on record in Floyd County
Virginia DEQ records 100 leaking underground storage tank sites and 7 reported spills and releases in Floyd County, among 110 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.
- 100
- leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
- 7
- reported spills and releasesMost spills are fuel; a few are solvents or chemicals that reach the water table.
- 1
- lined landfill or transfer facility
- 2
- other solid waste facilities
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 Floyd County
No water treatment company serves Floyd 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 Floyd County, and you get an email naming it first.
Common questions
Is there arsenic in well water in Floyd County?
Arsenic was detected in 8% of 13 public well samples in Floyd 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 Floyd 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 Floyd 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 Virginia dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 156 samples in Floyd 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 13,291 people on private wells in Floyd 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.
- Virginia DEQ regulated sites: 110 regulated sites located in Floyd County. Petroleum releases and solid waste permits from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Environmental Data Mapper. Retrieved September 17, 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.