Private wells
South Carolina well water: who's on a well and what to test for
People on private wells
1,038,600
Homes on wells
20.1%
Est. above arsenic limit
28,100
Every South Carolina county
Sorted by people on private wells. Arsenic and nitrate are modeled for typical wells in the county, not measured at yours; depth is the median of domestic well records.
| York County | 74,000 | 26% | 1.3% | 0.4 | n/a |
| Lexington County | 63,600 | 22% | 1.4% | 1.3 | 157 ft |
| Horry County | 57,700 | 12% | 2.5% | 0.0 | 255 ft |
| Spartanburg County | 50,400 | 15% | 1.2% | 1.2 | 255 ft |
| Florence County | 42,500 | 31% | 2.0% | 0.2 | 150 ft |
| Berkeley County | 41,600 | 20% | 1.1% | 0.1 | 200 ft |
| Aiken County | 36,700 | 21% | 1.4% | 1.1 | 125 ft |
| Orangeburg County | 36,100 | 44% | 1.7% | 0.3 | 168 ft |
| Anderson County | 32,900 | 15% | 1.1% | 1.5 | n/a |
| Sumter County | 29,700 | 28% | 1.7% | 0.5 | n/a |
| Laurens County | 27,500 | 41% | 1.4% | 0.7 | 205 ft |
| Charleston County | 26,800 | 6% | 2.0% | 0.1 | 105 ft |
| Chester County | 25,700 | 79% | 1.5% | 0.2 | n/a |
| Beaufort County | 25,000 | 13% | 2.8% | 0.0 | 100 ft |
| Darlington County | 23,900 | 37% | 4.2% | 0.7 | n/a |
| Colleton County | 22,000 | 53% | 1.1% | 0.0 | 420 ft |
| Chesterfield County | 21,800 | 50% | 1.8% | 0.5 | 125 ft |
| Williamsburg County | 21,700 | 73% | 1.3% | 0.0 | 183 ft |
| Dorchester County | 21,600 | 14% | 1.0% | 0.0 | 350 ft |
| Lancaster County | 21,300 | 23% | 1.6% | 0.2 | n/a |
| Clarendon County | 20,700 | 67% | 1.1% | 0.1 | 208 ft |
| Cherokee County | 19,900 | 35% | 1.5% | 0.9 | 185 ft |
| Kershaw County | 19,700 | 31% | 1.5% | 0.3 | 110 ft |
| Greenwood County | 19,100 | 27% | 1.4% | 0.3 | 260 ft |
| Newberry County | 18,800 | 50% | 1.5% | 0.3 | 225 ft |
| Oconee County | 18,700 | 24% | 1.1% | 0.3 | 205 ft |
| Jasper County | 14,700 | 52% | 1.7% | 0.0 | 185 ft |
| Richland County | 14,600 | 4% | 1.5% | 0.3 | 165 ft |
| Georgetown County | 14,500 | 19% | 1.4% | 0.0 | 97 ft |
| Pickens County | 14,100 | 12% | 1.0% | 0.3 | 225 ft |
| Abbeville County | 13,600 | 56% | 1.0% | 0.2 | n/a |
| Saluda County | 13,400 | 73% | 1.3% | 0.5 | n/a |
| Fairfield County | 12,900 | 64% | 1.3% | 0.1 | n/a |
| Greenville County | 12,400 | 2% | 1.3% | 1.2 | 185 ft |
| Dillon County | 11,900 | 41% | 1.4% | 0.9 | 38 ft |
| Marlboro County | 11,600 | 38% | 1.6% | 1.9 | 39 ft |
| Edgefield County | 11,100 | 46% | 1.4% | 1.2 | n/a |
| Marion County | 11,100 | 39% | 2.1% | 0.1 | 150 ft |
| Calhoun County | 10,800 | 76% | 1.6% | 0.7 | n/a |
| Union County | 10,500 | 38% | 1.4% | 0.6 | 220 ft |
| Hampton County | 10,200 | 52% | 1.4% | 0.0 | 160 ft |
| Barnwell County | 10,100 | 50% | 1.7% | 0.5 | 137 ft |
| Lee County | 9,600 | 62% | 2.0% | 0.5 | 58 ft |
| Bamberg County | 6,100 | 47% | 1.7% | 0.2 | n/a |
| McCormick County | 3,300 | 40% | 1.3% | 0.1 | n/a |
| Allendale County | 2,700 | 39% | 1.9% | 0.1 | n/a |
Shading: red is among the highest counties nationally, amber the middle, green the lower range. Click a column to sort.
Most well users above the arsenic limit
- York County: about 6,400 people
- Florence County: about 2,300 people
- Berkeley County: about 2,200 people
- Horry County: about 2,100 people
- Charleston County: about 1,700 people
Test first, then treat what the test finds
We may earn a commission from links below, at no cost to you. Picks follow the testing order, not who pays. How we make money.
1. Certified lab well test
Start here, every year
A mail-in kit analyzed by a certified lab measures bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, metals and more. Test strips cannot measure arsenic or uranium reliably.
2. Sediment pre-filter
Sand, silt or cloudy water
A 5-micron cartridge after the pressure tank catches sand, silt and rust before they reach fixtures or other filters. Cartridges are cheap and swap every few months.
3. Iron and sulfur filter
Orange stains or rotten-egg smell
Air-injection or oxidizing-media filters remove orange staining and rotten-egg smell. Size one from a lab result for iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide.
4. UV disinfection system
Coliform bacteria in a test
Inactivates bacteria and viruses; usually for private wells or after boil notices.
5. Under-sink reverse osmosis
Arsenic, nitrate or uranium in a test
The most thorough option for drinking water: PFAS, lead, nitrate, arsenic and more. Look for NSF/ANSI 58.
6. Whole-house well filter
Several problems at once
Multi-stage sediment and carbon for every tap. Add UV if bacteria shows up, and choose stages from your lab results, not a guess.
Questions
Which South Carolina counties rely most on wells?+
By share of homes: Chester County (79%), Calhoun County (76%), Williamsburg County (73%), Saluda County (73%), Clarendon County (67%). By number of people: York County (74,000), Lexington County (63,600), Horry County (57,700).
Is arsenic a problem in South Carolina wells?+
USGS estimates about 28,100 South Carolina well users have water above the 10 microgram per liter arsenic limit that applies to public systems, the largest numbers in York County, Florence County, Berkeley County. Arsenic has no taste or smell, so only a lab test finds it.
Do I have to test my well when I sell a house in South Carolina?+
We could not confirm a statewide rule for South Carolina. Check with your county health department. Buyers can still make a lab test a condition of the offer.
How often should I test my well?+
No federal law covers private wells. EPA's drinking water limits apply to public water systems, so testing and treating a private well is up to the owner. EPA and CDC recommend testing at least once a year for coliform bacteria, nitrate, pH and total dissolved solids, and testing for arsenic, uranium, radon and other local concerns based on where you live.
Well-user counts, arsenic and nitrate figures are each a modeled estimate built from national datasets, not a count of tested wells, and well depths summarize drilling records rather than every well. Your own well can be very different from the county average, which is why the only answer for your home is a lab test. Sources: EPA Office of Research and Development, Water Source 2020 (private well estimates by census block); CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking, Well Water Index (from USGS nitrate and arsenic models); USGS, county-level domestic well population with arsenic above 10 micrograms per liter (Ayotte and others, 2017); USGS Synthesized Domestic Well Database for the Conterminous United States (SynDWell-US), McCarthy and others, 2025 (depth, where a county has 30+ usable records).