Well water in Forest County, Wisconsin

In Forest County, 3% of 208 tested well samples exceeded the EPA limit for nitrate (10 mg/L), based on public data from USGS Water Quality Portal.

The strongest signal is arsenic: 4% of 106 local wells tested were above the Wisconsin enforcement standard, too few samples to carry the headline but first on the test list below.

619 private wells tested 2005 to 2023 in state summaries; 1,044 test results across 12 contaminants from at least 104 wells, 1946 to 2024; nitrate has the most at 208. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.

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

An estimated 2,992 people in Forest County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 33% of residents.

Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 12% of the 2,992 people on private wells in Forest County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is 9% to 14%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.

What homeowner tests found

Wisconsin Well Water Quality Viewer samples: private wells tested and reported to the state, 2005 to 2023. 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.

Contaminant	Above state level	Wells tested	Highest	State level
Total coliform	11%	9
Arsenic	4%	106	22	10 ug/L
Nitrate	<1%	619	125	10 mg/L
Chloride	0%	7	6.7	250 mg/L
Sodium	0%	6	10.3	20 mg/L
Copper	0%	6	0.048	1.3 mg/L
Manganese	0%	6	50	300 ug/L
Lead	0%	6	6	15 ug/L
Iron	0%	6	294	300 ug/L
E. coli	0%	1

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Forest 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 2024	3%	208	93%	0.33	15	10 mg/L EPA limit
Arsenic 1976 to 2024	1%	67	60%	0.8	12	10 ug/L EPA limit
Fluoride 1946 to 2024	0%	107	65%	0.1	0.8	4 mg/L EPA limit
Copper 1976 to 2024	0%	65	69%	0	0.52	1.3 mg/L EPA limit
Lead 1976 to 2024	0%	64	50%	0	0.23	15 ug/L EPA limit
Uranium 1979 to 2024	0%	31	74%	0.024	29	30 ug/L EPA limit
Radium (226 + 228) 2003 to 2013	0%	10	80%	0.092	0.88	5 pCi/L EPA limit
Chloride 1946 to 2024	no limit	127	100%	1.6	204	250 mg/L nuisance level
Sodium 1965 to 2024	no limit	124	100%	2.4	103	20 mg/L health guideline
Iron 1946 to 2024	no limit	113	63%	20	12,000	300 ug/L nuisance level
Manganese 1946 to 2024	no limit	112	79%	3.63	710	300 ug/L health guideline
Radon 1982 to 2003	no limit	16	100%	433	4,600	2,000 pCi/L health guideline

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	4%163 samples	0%26 samples	0%12 samples	n/a
Fluoride	0%86 samples	0%13 samples	n/a	n/a
Arsenic	2%44 samples	0%12 samples	n/a	n/a
Copper	0%42 samples	0%12 samples	n/a	n/a
Lead	0%41 samples	0%12 samples	n/a	n/a
Uranium	0%13 samples	0%10 samples	n/a	n/a

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

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

Among homeowners in Forest County who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were arsenic (4% of 106 wells) and nitrate (<1% of 619 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 Forest County

1
Arsenic
4% of 106 local wells tested were above the Wisconsin enforcement standard.
2
Nitrate
3% of 208 local samples were above the limit.
3
Coliform bacteria
Recommended for every private well, every year.
4
Radon
Median local reading is 433 pCi/L.
5
Chloride
Detected in 100% of local samples.
6
Manganese
Detected in 79% of local samples.
7
Copper
Detected in 69% of local samples.
8
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
20 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.

Test your Forest County well for arsenic, nitrate and coliform bacteria

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 Wisconsin: certified labs, state programs and prices.

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

The rock under Forest County

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 county centroid. A single well can sit in a different unit, especially near a boundary.

Official help in Wisconsin

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, Wisconsin DNR
Laboratory Certification, Wisconsin DNR

Contamination sources on record in Forest County

Wisconsin DNR records 20 leaking underground storage tank sites in Forest County, among 125 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.

20: leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
36: lined landfills and transfer facilities
69: other remediation projects

Treatment that fits the local profile

Arsenic

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Adsorptive media (iron-based) whole-house; Anion exchange

Nitrate

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

Under-sink reverse osmosis system

under-sink or countertop, about $300

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

For nitrate

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 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 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 Forest County

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

Common questions

Is there arsenic in well water in Forest County?

Arsenic was detected in 60% of 67 public well samples in Forest County, and 1% 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 high is radon in well water in Forest County?

The median radon level across 16 public samples in Forest County was 433 pCi/L, with a high of 4,600 pCi/L. New Hampshire recommends treatment above 2,000 pCi/L.

How often should I test a private well in Forest 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 Forest County

7 towns have fewer than 30 public samples and are included in the Forest County totals above rather than shown separately: Alvin, Blackwell, Caswell, Crandon, Freedom, Popple River, Ross.

Counties near Forest 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 Wisconsin dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.

Sources

USGS Water Quality Portal: 1,044 samples in Forest 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.
Wisconsin Well Water Quality Viewer samples: summaries for 10 contaminants in Forest County, up to 619 wells each. Private well samples compiled by the UWSP Center for Watershed Science and Education from the DNR Groundwater Retrieval Network, DATCP surveys, the UWSP Water and Environmental Analysis Lab and county health programs, published in the Wisconsin Well Water Quality Viewer with Wisconsin DHS. Samples are located to the town, village or city they fall in; one result per well and parameter (the latest) so repeat samples do not double count; wells without a state well number are keyed by location. Shares are against Wisconsin NR 140 enforcement standards (arsenic 10 ug/L, nitrate 10 mg/L as N, manganese 300 ug/L, lead 15 ug/L, copper 1.3 mg/L) and the iron and chloride secondary levels. Many samples were submitted by homeowners with a reason to test, so shares can run above a random survey. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
USGS national arsenic model (Ayotte 2017): estimated share of 2,992 people on private wells in Forest 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.
Wisconsin DNR regulated sites: 125 regulated sites located in Forest County. Open and closed remediation activities (BRRTS, including leaking underground storage tanks and spills) and landfill and waste sites from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved September 9, 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.