Well Water Nerd

Well water in Southampton County, Virginia

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Testing recommended

tested well samples in Southampton County exceeded the EPA limit for fluoride (4 mg/L), based on public data from USGS Water Quality Portal.

187 test results across 12 contaminants from at least 50 wells, 1938 to 2023; chloride has the most at 55. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.

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

An estimated 8,227 people in Southampton County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 45% of residents.

Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 4% of the 8,227 people on private wells in Southampton County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is 3% to 7%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Southampton 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.

ContaminantAbove limitSamplesDetectedMedianHighestLimit
Fluoride
1938 to 2010
3097%0.2055.54 mg/L
EPA limit
Chloride
1938 to 2023
no limit55100%6.4427250 mg/L
nuisance level
Sodium
1938 to 2010
no limit35100%5261320 mg/L
health guideline
Iron
1938 to 2010
no limit2479%253,840300 ug/L
nuisance level
Manganese
1997 to 2010
no limit12100%14.9159300 ug/L
health guideline

Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Radium (226 + 228) (9), Nitrate (7), Arsenic (3), Copper (3), Uranium (3), Lead (3), Radon (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 address

What this means

The contaminants most often above their limit here are fluoride (10% of 30 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 Southampton County

  1. 1
    Fluoride
    10% of 30 local samples were above the limit.
  2. 2
    Coliform bacteria
    Recommended for every private well, every year.
  3. 3
    Radon
    Median local reading is 200 pCi/L.
  4. 4
    Nitrate
    Recommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
  5. 5
    Chloride
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  6. 6
    Manganese
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  7. 7
    Iron
    Detected in 79% of local samples.
  8. 8
    Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
    92 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.

Test your Southampton County well for fluoride, coliform bacteria and radon

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 Southampton County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.

The rock under Southampton County

Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system

Semiconsolidated sand. Coastal plain sands like these give steady yields at moderate depth. Salt water and sodium are the usual issues near the coast, and nitrate where the water table is shallow; arsenic and radon from bedrock are less common.

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.

Contamination sources on record in Southampton County

Virginia DEQ records 92 leaking underground storage tank sites and 4 reported spills and releases in Southampton County, among 114 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.

92
leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
4
reported spills and releasesMost spills are fuel; a few are solvents or chemicals that reach the water table.
6
lined landfills and transfer facilities
12
other solid waste facilities

Treatment that fits the local profile

Fluoride

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Activated alumina; Distillation

Manganese

Oxidizing filter (greensand, birm) whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Point-of-use reverse osmosis

Iron

Oxidizing filter whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Aeration plus filtration

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 fluoride

Under-sink reverse osmosis system

under-sink or countertop, about $300

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

For fluoride

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 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 Southampton County

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

What are you worried about?

The test is free and there is no obligation. No company is named yet; your details stay with us until one joins for your area, and we log the time and address of this request.

Common questions

How often should I test a private well in Southampton 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 Southampton 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: 187 samples in Southampton 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 8,227 people on private wells in Southampton 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: 114 regulated sites located in Southampton 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.