Prevalence of Well Water Contaminants in Georgia from 2010-2022

Background: Safe, reliable, and clean drinking water sources are a basic necessity. More than 1.7 million individuals rely on private wells for drinking water in Georgia and are confronted with water quality challenges stemming from chemical contamination as private wells are not under mandated regulations as public water supplies. In Georgia, previous studies suggested that the variation of soil and rock in a physiographic province (region) plays an essential role in the quality of private well water. There is a need to understand the distribution of these chemical contaminants above the federal Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) and how different geologies in each physiographic province might influence such concentrations. This study examines the distribution of arsenic, uranium, radon, nitrate-nitrogen, and lead concentrations above the MCL in private well water and their association of contamination with physiographic provinces in Georgia. Methods: The study used private well water test results available from 2010 through 2022 at the University of Georgia’s Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories (AESL). The test results are exclusively from the well owners’ voluntary submission of water samples. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed to investigate the distribution of contaminants and their association (chi-sq) with physiographic provinces with p set at < .05 for results to be considered statistically significant. Results:Over 26,000 well water samples were received via voluntary submission by the well owners and tested for at least one chemical contaminant, such as arsenic, uranium, radon, nitrate-nitrogen, and lead. Well water samples submitted voluntarily to AESL from Coastal Plain had higher proportions of arsenic concentrations exceeding the MCL, χ2(3) = 95.53, p = Conclusions: Gaining insight into the geological factors responsible for the suboptimal quality of well water can facilitate the development of public health initiatives that raise public awareness and create opportunities to preserve and maintain healthy well water quality in Georgia.