RV Water Guide

Finding Water You Can Trust, Wherever the Road Takes You

I’ve spent enough years living the RV life to know one thing for sure: not all water is created equal. And when you’re pulling or driving an RV cross-country, “good enough” isn’t really good enough. You want water that’s safe, and if you can get it, water that actually tastes like something.

I got the idea for this guide from a guy I met at a rest stop outside Kalamazoo. He was filling his tank from a hose behind the building because the campground he’d booked wasn’t picking up the phone, and he needed water before he found out one way or the other. He wasn’t reckless about it — he just didn’t have any real way to know if it was a smart move until it was already done. We got to talking, and neither of us could point to somewhere better he could’ve gone instead. That stuck with me more than it should have.

So I started keeping notes. Real research. Real sources. No guessing.

This guide is the start of something bigger: a state-by-state map of places where RVers can find water worth filling up on — springs, artesian wells, campgrounds with good reputations — along with the honest truth about what we do and don’t know about each one.

A quick word before you dive in: this is research, not a guarantee. A spring or artesian well is not automatically safe just because it’s flowing out of the ground. We rate every source based on what we could actually verify, and we tell you flat-out when something is unknown. Fluoride, arsenic, and bacteria data are often incomplete for these smaller, less-monitored sources — “Unknown” means exactly that. It does not mean “probably fine.”

Always use your own judgment, verify current conditions before you go, and when in doubt, run water through your RV’s filtration system anyway. This guide is a starting point for your own research, not a substitute for it.

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How to Read the Ratings

Rating	What It Means
🟢 GOOD*	A current official source (like a park service or municipal record) confirms the water is treated as potable drinking water. The asterisk is there because even “good” sources may still be missing full fluoride/contaminant data.
🟡 CAUTION	A legitimate source or credible lead — documented, real, and used by other travelers — but current safety testing or full water chemistry is incomplete. Worth investigating further before you fill a large tank.
🔴 AVOID	Reserved for sources with a known safety problem or no reasonable drinking-water basis. None are rated this way yet in this edition.

A few practical habits worth building into your routine:

• When filling from a natural spring or private source, fill a smaller container first — not your main tank — until you’ve had a chance to check it out.
• Re-verify access, seasonal closures, and any outages shortly before you actually travel to a source. Things change.
• “Unknown” fluoride does not mean low fluoride. It means nobody has published a current result we could find.

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Interactive Water Source Map

Use the dropdowns to filter by state and rating, or search by name, county, or source type. Green markers indicate documented potable sources; yellow (orange) markers indicate sources that need verification before use. Tap any marker for details, the research source, and driving directions. As new states get added to the research, they’ll simply appear as new options in the State filter — no separate map needed.

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Alabama Source Directory

Verified: August 2026

Alabama delivers on natural sources more than any state so far. Five Alabama state park campgrounds carry full or near-full hookups and treated public water, GOOD* across the board — but the standout find is Prattville, a town 15 minutes from Montgomery that’s been nicknamed “The Fountain City” since the 1800s for its free-flowing artesian wells. A 1933 newspaper count found more than 400 of them in and around town. Most have been capped or gone dry, but a handful of public ones are still flowing, still free, and still genuinely used by locals today — not roadside curiosities, working water sources people drive 30–40 miles for. All three stay CAUTION, for reasons explained below, but they’re worth knowing about.

Oak Mountain State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Just outside Birmingham, Shelby County · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 100 Campground Rd, Birmingham, AL 35242
RV notes: About 150 sites total, renovated in 2024. 62 full-hookup RV sites with 50-amp service, plus 3 water/electric-only sites. A camper-only swimming area is a nice bonus. A few reviewers note some sites are gravel and not perfectly level, with little shade — ask about specific site conditions when booking if that matters to you.
What we know: Treated public supply at Alabama’s largest and most-visited state park.
Source: Alabama State Parks

Buck’s Pocket State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Grove Oak, DeKalb/Marshall County · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 393 Co Rd 174, Grove Oak, AL 35975
RV notes: 23 RV sites total; 13 have full hookups (water, power, sewer, including 4 pull-through) on 16×60 ft concrete pads, the rest water and power only. Recently renovated. Access roads are steep and winding — reviews describe them as rough but passable for large rigs; call ahead if you’re towing something big.
What we know: Treated public supply at an Alabama state park.
Source: Alabama State Parks

Gulf State Park RV Resort — 🟢 GOOD*

Gulf Shores, Baldwin County, on the Gulf Coast · State park RV resort, full hookups · Resort-style campground fee
Address: 2555 Gulf RV Resort Blvd, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
RV notes: 104 full-hookup sites with large concrete pads, up to 50-amp power, and paved patios. Gated for privacy and security, good pull-through access for large rigs. Note this RV resort is a separate facility from the main Gulf State Park campground nearby — as of recent reports the two aren’t directly road-connected, so you’ll take a roundabout route between them.
What we know: Treated public supply at an Alabama state park.
Source: Alabama State Parks

DeSoto State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Near Fort Payne, DeKalb County, along Little River Canyon · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 13883 County Road 89, Fort Payne, AL 35967
RV notes: Full hookups (water, sewer, 20/30/50-amp electric) at most sites, mix of pull-through and back-in, gated campground. Multiple reviews flag the roads getting in and out as steep and “scary” for towing — worth a call ahead if you’re unsure about your rig. Laundry is coin-op only, cell service can be weak.
What we know: Treated public supply at an Alabama state park near waterfalls and sandstone bluffs.
Source: Alabama State Parks

Lake Guntersville State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Guntersville, Marshall County, on Lake Guntersville (Tennessee River) · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 24 State Campground Rd, Guntersville, AL 35976
RV notes: Full-hookup, level gravel RV sites, several lakeside; playground with splash pad, clean bathhouses, golf course and lodge on site.
What we know: Treated public supply at an Alabama state park. This stretch of the Tennessee River is upstream of the Decatur/Wheeler Reservoir corridor discussed below, so it isn’t part of that specific contamination zone — but see that section for the state-wide private-well picture.
Source: Alabama State Parks

Doster Road Artesian Well House — 🟡 CAUTION

Prattville, Autauga County · Public artesian well / historic well house · Free
Address: 608 Doster Rd, Prattville, AL 36067
RV notes: Container fill only, at a roadside pull-off next to a creek and small park; not RV-accessible. Expect a wait on weekends — this well is popular.
What we know: This is the best-documented of Prattville’s wells: a 2001 well house built by the city and the Historic Prattville Redevelopment Authority, with a state historical marker, and — unusually for a source on this list — an actual independent lab test. A 2016 sample sent to National Testing Labs in Cleveland, Ohio came back with a pH of 7.5 and a full mineral panel (lithium, magnesium, potassium, silica, sodium, strontium), all low and unremarkable. That’s real data, but it’s a mineral panel, not a potability test — it doesn’t cover bacteria, coliform, or contaminants like arsenic or PFAS. Regular users clearly trust it (reviews describe multi-decade routines and long drives to fill up), and it has a genuine, decades-long track record as a community source. Still, one nine-year-old mineral test isn’t the same as ongoing agency monitoring, so it stays CAUTION.
Source: Alabama Historical Association marker; Find A Spring community data

Artesian Fountain at Heritage Park — 🟡 CAUTION

Downtown Prattville, Autauga County · Public artesian well / downtown park fountain · Free
Address: 228 S Court St, Prattville, AL 36067
RV notes: Container fill only, in a downtown park setting; not RV-accessible.
What we know: One of Prattville’s remaining public artesian fountains, in the historic downtown district. We found no published lab results specific to this well — treat it the same as any other unofficial community source.
Source: Downtown Prattville Unlimited

Autauga County Heritage Center Well — 🟡 CAUTION

Downtown Prattville, Autauga County · Public artesian well at a local museum · Free (museum itself has separate hours/admission)
Address: 102 E Main St, Prattville, AL 36067
RV notes: Container fill only, small museum parking area; not RV-accessible.
What we know: A working artesian well on the grounds of the county heritage museum, offered informally to visitors (“bring a water bottle or ask for one”). No published testing found. Same caveat as the other two Prattville wells — genuine, long-used, but unofficial.
Source: Downtown Prattville Unlimited

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An Alabama-Specific Warning: 3M, the Tennessee River, and PFAS

Alabama’s clearest hazard has a name, an address, and a documented timeline — and it plays out along one of the state’s biggest rivers.

Since 1961, a 3M chemical manufacturing plant has operated on the south bank of the Tennessee River in Decatur, in north Alabama. Until it phased out production around 2002, the plant was a major manufacturer of PFOA and PFOS — two of the most-studied PFAS “forever chemicals.” According to EPA records and multiple lawsuits, the plant discharged PFAS-laden wastewater into the river for decades, and biosolids from the local wastewater utility, containing these chemicals, were spread as fertilizer on roughly 5,000 acres of farmland across Lawrence, Morgan, and Limestone counties. Between 2005 and 2011, EPA sampling in the area found PFOA and PFOS in the West Morgan–East Lawrence Water and Sewer Authority’s water at levels that led to roughly 100,000 north Alabama residents being advised not to drink their tap water. Groundwater tests directly on the 3M site have shown extraordinarily high concentrations. Huntsville Utilities, along with other regional water authorities, has filed suit against 3M, DuPont, Daikin America, and other manufacturers over contamination of the Tennessee River and Wheeler Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to multiple north Alabama communities downstream of Decatur.

This is not ancient history and not resolved. Alabama’s environmental agency (ADEM) has flagged industrial PFAS discharges as a concern but, per Sierra Club Alabama chapter testing summaries, has not yet begun systematically monitoring for PFAS in industrial discharges statewide. Other rivers with industrial history — including the Coosa, which also picks up contamination originating in Georgia’s carpet-manufacturing belt upstream — show PFAS in testing as well.

What this means practically:

• Be cautious with any water source — municipal or private — downstream of Decatur on the Tennessee River, particularly in Morgan, Lawrence, and Limestone counties. This includes Wheeler Reservoir and communities served by it.
• Public water systems remain the safer bet, same as every other state on this list — it was routine and litigation-driven testing of the West Morgan–East Lawrence system that surfaced this problem and forced remediation and lawsuits in the first place.
• Alabama’s private-well population is large and entirely unregulated: roughly 800,000 people — 20% of the state — rely on private wells, and per the Alabama Department of Public Health, testing is the well owner’s responsibility. There’s no requirement to test for anything, including PFAS, unless you request it yourself.
• A well-loved local source, like Prattville’s artesian wells, isn’t automatically safer just because it’s popular and historic. Standard mineral or pH testing (like the one on Doster Road) doesn’t screen for PFAS, bacteria, or most other contaminants — it takes a specific, separate lab panel to do that.

Key resources: Alabama Department of Public Health — Well Water · Alabama Cooperative Extension — Well Water Testing

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Florida Source Directory

Verified: August 2026

Florida turned out to be the hardest state so far to find a genuine CAUTION-tier lead for. Every state before it turned up some living network of small-town artesian wells or roadside springs where people still fill jugs — Michigan’s flowing wells, Alabama’s Prattville trio, Georgia’s Rolater Park. Florida has more documented springs than any other state, over a thousand of them, but they’re managed almost entirely as swimming and recreation sites, not fill points, and the old “flowing well” culture got mostly bought up by the bottled-water industry decades ago — Zephyrhills, the state’s best-known brand, sources from named springs that are now private commercial operations, not public taps. We ran down several leads — old health-resort springs, small-town artesian wells, county park sources — and every one either turned out to be dried up, swim-only, or privately bottled. Rather than pad this section with a spring that can’t actually be filled from, we’re delivering six strong GOOD* sources: treated public water at genuinely well-run state and county park campgrounds, spread from the Panhandle to the Keys. See the warning below for why that “springs are everywhere” reputation doesn’t translate into fill-station reality here.

Blackwater River State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Holt, Okaloosa/Santa Rosa County, Florida Panhandle · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 7720 Deaton Bridge Rd, Holt, FL 32564
RV notes: 30 sites split between two loops (Magnolia and Titi), each with 20/30/50-amp electric, potable water, and sewer connections on gravel pads; accommodates tents through 45–50-ft RVs (sources vary — confirm current limit at booking). Small campground, books up fast. Some older trip reports describe a “no hookups” version of this campground; that appears to be confusion with a different, primitive loop elsewhere in the surrounding Blackwater River State Forest (a separate property) — the state park’s own campground page and reservation system both confirm full hookups at all 30 sites. A short trail leads to a swimming beach on Juniper Lake with posted alligator warnings, so treat that as recreation, not a water source.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Florida state park.
Source: Florida State Parks

Rainbow Springs State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Dunnellon, Marion County, north-central Florida · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 18185 SW 94th Street, Dunnellon, FL 34432
RV notes: 60 sites with full hookups — water, sewer, 50-amp electric — no need to use a dump station. Located about 1.5 miles downstream from the main headspring and swim area, so this is a separate, quieter facility from the popular day-use park. Kayak launch on site, shared with summer tubers — can get crowded on weekends.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Florida state park. The headspring itself, upstream, is a swim site, not part of this campground’s water system — see the warning below on why that distinction matters statewide.
Source: Florida State Parks

Anastasia State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

St. Augustine, St. Johns County, northeast Florida · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 300 Anastasia Park Rd, St. Augustine, FL 32080
RV notes: 139 sites, all with water and 30-amp electric; no sewer at site. Wooded, reasonably private sites, though the ground is rocky enough that tent stakes can be a fight. A live-music amphitheater sits nearby in the woods — expect occasional soundchecks. Four miles of beach are a short walk or bike ride away.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Florida state park.
Source: Florida State Parks

Bahia Honda State Park RV Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Big Pine Key, Monroe County, Florida Keys · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 36850 Overseas Hwy, Big Pine Key, FL 33043
RV notes: Sites have water and electric; no sewer at site. Gravel pads make tent stakes tough going. This is one of the few campgrounds with hookups anywhere in the Lower Keys, and it’s popular — book well ahead, especially for the winter peak season.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Florida state park.
Source: Florida State Parks

Fort De Soto Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Tierra Verde, Pinellas County, Tampa Bay area · County park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 3500 Pinellas Bayway S, Tierra Verde, FL 33715
RV notes: 238 sites, all with water and 30/50-amp electric; no sewer at site, dump station on the island. Pinellas County residents get an earlier booking window; a small batch of held-back sites releases Fridays at 7 a.m. Raccoons are bold about unattended food — secure everything.
What we know: Treated municipal/county supply at a Pinellas County park.
Source: Pinellas County Parks & Conservation Resources

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Santa Rosa Beach, Walton County, Florida Panhandle · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 7525 W County Hwy 30A, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459
RV notes: 150+ RV sites with water and electric, some full hookup — confirm which loop when booking. A free tram shuttles campers to the beach (about a half-mile walk otherwise). Large campground; sites sit fairly close together but are heavily wooded for privacy.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Florida state park.
Source: Florida State Parks

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A Florida-Specific Warning: Springs Aren’t Fill Stations

Florida’s clearest hazard isn’t a single contaminated site — it’s a mismatch between reputation and reality. About 90% of Floridians drink groundwater drawn from the Floridan Aquifer, and the state’s more than 1,000 documented springs are literally windows into that same aquifer, according to Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection and its state park system. That connection is exactly why a spring looking crystal-clear tells you almost nothing about whether it’s safe to drink: springs are managed statewide as swimming and recreation sites, not as tested, treated fill points, and Florida’s own park service and health department don’t treat them as interchangeable.

The state’s county health departments issue blue-green algae (“cyanobacteria”) advisories on a rolling basis, covering springs, lakes, and rivers across Florida — Okaloosa, Palm Beach, Marion, Orange, and Martin counties all posted “do not drink, swim, wade, or otherwise contact” alerts within the past year alone. Separately, the Florida Department of Health’s Healthy Beaches program routinely issues no-swim advisories for elevated enterococci (fecal-indicator bacteria) at coastal sites. Neither program exists because Florida’s water is uniquely bad — it’s because Florida tests for these things routinely, and the results show that “looks clean” and “is safe to swim in, let alone drink” are two different questions, even at a famous, popular spring.

PFAS is a live issue here too. Florida currently has no state maximum contaminant level for PFAS in drinking water, per the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, though new EPA rules will require community water systems to begin monitoring by April 2027. PFAS contamination in Florida is most closely tied to military bases and airports, where firefighting foam was used for decades — legal filings cited by multiple sources describe some Florida sites recording PFOA/PFOS groundwater concentrations over 1 million parts per trillion. Measurable PFAS has also shown up in monitoring at public systems, including in Tallahassee.

What this means practically:

• Don’t treat a beautiful, popular swimming spring as a drinking source — even the famous, crystal-clear ones. Florida doesn’t test or manage them for potability, and algae or bacteria advisories are common enough that the state runs standing programs to track them.
• Before assuming any Florida spring, lake, or river is clean, check for current advisories through your county health department or the state’s Protecting Florida Together dashboard — conditions can change with no visible warning sign at the water’s edge.
• Lean on the state and county park campgrounds on this list. Every GOOD* source here is treated public or municipal water — the same structural reason to prefer it that applies in every other state on this guide.
• If you have a private well, or you’re near a current or former military base or airport, know that Florida doesn’t require PFAS testing or disclosure to residents. The Florida Department of Health recommends annual private-well testing for bacteria, nitrate, and lead — but it’s the well owner’s responsibility, and there’s no requirement to test even when a home changes hands.

Key resources: Florida DEP — PFAS in Drinking Water · Florida DOH — Private Well Testing · Florida DOH — Beach & Recreational Water Quality

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Georgia Source Directory

Verified: August 2026

Georgia leans on its state park system for this edition, same as Ohio and Tennessee — six of the eight sources below sit at treated, monitored Georgia DNR campgrounds, several with full hookups. The two non-park sources are genuine, long-used community springs, but neither carries current official testing, so both stay CAUTION. Georgia’s own version of the “verify before you fill” warning has a specific address this time: a stretch of the state’s northwest corner. See below.

Don Carter State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Gainesville, Hall County, on Lake Lanier · State park campground with hookups · Campground fee
Address: 5000 N Browning Bridge Rd, Gainesville, GA 30506
RV notes: The only Georgia state park directly on Lake Lanier, and one of the newer parks in the system (opened 2013), so the campground is modern. There are 44 developed RV sites with electric hookups ranging 15–50 amp and water at every site. Sources disagree on sewer: some describe two dedicated full-hookup host sites, others describe most sites as full hookup — confirm your specific site’s hookups when booking. Paved, mostly pull-through sites; several listings report accommodating rigs up to 90 ft.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Georgia DNR state park.
Source: Georgia DNR State Parks

Unicoi State Park & Lodge Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Helen, White County, north Georgia mountains · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 1788 GA-356, Helen, GA 30545
RV notes: A large mountain-park campground with 100-plus sites; roughly a dozen have full hookups, with the remainder water-and-electric only. Modern comfort stations, hot showers, and a dump station on site. Right next to the Alpine-themed town of Helen and Anna Ruby Falls.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Georgia DNR state park and lodge.
Source: Georgia DNR State Parks

Fort McAllister State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Richmond Hill, Bryan County, on the Ogeechee River near Savannah · State park campground, full hookup and water/electric sites · Campground fee
Address: 3894 Fort McAllister Rd, Richmond Hill, GA 31324
RV notes: About 20 sites carry full hookups (water/sewer/electric); the rest are water-and-electric only, backed up by a dump station. Roads and pads are paved and level — multiple campers report easy access for Class A rigs with tow vehicles. Sites tend to be shaded and semi-private.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Georgia DNR state park, about 40 minutes from Savannah.
Source: Georgia DNR State Parks

Florence Marina State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Omaha, Stewart County, on Lake Walter F. George · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 218 Florence Rd, Omaha, GA 31821
RV notes: 41 of the park’s RV sites carry full hookups (water/sewer/electric) — mostly pull-throughs, with a centrally located comfort station within walking distance of every site. This is also the practical RV base camp for Providence Canyon State Park down the road, since Providence Canyon itself only offers backcountry camping.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Georgia DNR state park.
Source: Georgia DNR State Parks

Cloudland Canyon State Park — West Rim Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Rising Fawn, Dade County, Georgia’s far northwest corner · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 122 Cloudland Canyon Park Rd, Rising Fawn, GA 30738
RV notes: Large pull-through sites reported. Water and electric hookups at most sites, with sewer recently added to some — confirm current hookup status for your site when booking. Some campers note rough pavement edges near a few sites; take care when leveling. One of Georgia’s most scenic parks, with a 1,000-foot canyon and waterfall hikes.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Georgia DNR state park. Worth noting: this park sits in the same general corner of the state as the PFAS-affected carpet-manufacturing region discussed below — see that section for why this doesn’t change the GOOD* rating, but is still worth being aware of.
Source: Georgia DNR State Parks

Tallulah Gorge State Park — Terrora Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Tallulah Falls, Rabun/Habersham County · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 338 Jane Hurt Yarn Rd, Tallulah Falls, GA 30573
RV notes: Water and electric at sites, no sewer — a dump station handles that. Sites are reported closer together than some other Georgia parks, and a few campers mention uneven pads, so pick your site with that in mind. The suspension bridge over Tallulah Gorge and the sliding-rock area are a short walk from camp.
What we know: Treated public supply at a Georgia DNR state park.
Source: Georgia DNR State Parks

Rolater Park Spring (Cave Spring) — 🟡 CAUTION

Cave Spring, Floyd County · Municipal-source artesian spring / public park · Small admission fee for cave/pool, spring fill free
Address: 13 Old Cedartown Rd, Cave Spring, GA 30124
RV notes: Container fill only — walk in from the park lot to the cave entrance with jugs. Not a large-RV stop.
What we know: This one needs an important distinction. The spring inside the limestone cave produces an estimated 2 million gallons a day and genuinely is the source that feeds the town of Cave Spring’s public water system — but that treated municipal water reaches homes through a modern pumping system, separately from the cave itself. Visitors who walk up and fill jugs directly at the cave mouth are taking raw, untreated spring water at the source, before any treatment step. It has a long, well-documented history of local use and award recognition for taste, but we found no current published lab panel for the water at the point where the public actually fills containers. That gap — a real municipal source, but untreated at the collection point — is exactly why this stays CAUTION rather than GOOD*.
Source: Historical/geographic documentation

Flowing Wells Spring, Augusta — 🟡 CAUTION

Augusta, Richmond County · Community-maintained public artesian well · Free
Address: Flowing Wells Spring, Augusta, GA 30909
RV notes: Container fill only at a roadside pull-off; not RV-accessible.
What we know: Originally drilled in the 1930s to supply a nearby school, this artesian well has been maintained informally by the community for generations and remains genuinely popular — regular visitors report cleaning the site themselves. A local TV station tested the water in 2020 and reported no detectable lead or heavy metals and a negative result for coliform bacteria. That’s a real, reassuring data point, but it’s a single point-in-time test by a news outlet, not ongoing official monitoring by a health or environmental agency. Treat it the way you’d treat any well-loved but unofficial source: promising, not certified.
Source: Find A Spring

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A Georgia-Specific Warning: PFAS and the Carpet Belt

Every state so far has had its own version of a groundwater warning. Georgia’s is unusually specific — it has a location, an industry, and a name.

Northwest Georgia, centered on Rome, Calhoun, and Dalton in Floyd, Gordon, and Whitfield counties, is the historic heart of the U.S. carpet-manufacturing industry. For decades, carpet and textile mills in the area used PFAS (“forever chemicals”) for stain resistance and discharged wastewater and treated sludge — spread on farmland as fertilizer — that carried those chemicals into local waterways and groundwater. The result, according to reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and Georgia’s own Environmental Protection Division (EPD) testing, is one of the most significant PFAS contamination zones in the southeastern United States. Preliminary blood-sample results released in mid-2025 from Rome and Calhoun residents found the large majority carried PFAS levels high enough to warrant medical follow-up, with EPD testing confirming detections in the public water systems of both Calhoun and Rome, as well as Augusta and other communities across the state. Calhoun’s city government settled a federal lawsuit in 2024 agreeing to overhaul its wastewater pretreatment program and upgrade its drinking-water treatment specifically to address PFAS; Rome has committed roughly $100 million toward a new treatment plant funded partly by settlement money from chemical and flooring manufacturers.

An important distinction, since this could otherwise read as a contradiction with the GOOD* ratings above: the treated public water systems in this region — including the municipal supplies serving Rome and Calhoun — are precisely the systems where the contamination was caught, because they’re routinely tested. That’s the whole argument for a monitored public system over an unmonitored roadside spring or private well: someone is actually checking. Cloudland Canyon State Park sits in this same general corner of northwest Georgia (Dade County, adjacent to the Rome/Calhoun/Dalton triangle); we found no report specifically flagging that park’s own water supply, and it remains a treated, monitored public system subject to the same testing requirements — but if you’re routing through this part of the state broadly, it’s worth knowing the regional picture.

The private-well problem underneath all of this is the same one nearly every state on this list shares: Georgia has an estimated 1.7 million residents on roughly 640,000 private wells, and — per the Georgia Department of Public Health and UGA Extension — there is no federal or state requirement to test private well water for anything, PFAS included. The EPA itself only recommends PFAS testing for private wells where it’s already a known local problem. In other words, a spring or well outside the carpet-manufacturing counties isn’t automatically safer; nobody is required to have looked there either.

What this means practically:

• Be extra cautious with any unofficial spring or well in or near Floyd, Gordon, or Whitfield counties (Rome, Calhoun, Dalton) — this is the documented epicenter of Georgia’s PFAS problem, in both surface water and groundwater.
• Lean on the state parks in this state, same as everywhere else on this list. Georgia’s public water systems are subject to EPA and EPD testing requirements, and — however imperfectly enforced in the past — that’s the mechanism that surfaced this problem in the first place.
• A long local history of a spring being “the town’s water” isn’t the same as it being tested for PFAS specifically. Standard bacteria and metals testing (like the 2020 test at the Augusta well above) doesn’t screen for PFAS at all — it’s a separate, more expensive lab panel.
• If you rely on a private well anywhere in Georgia, know that testing is entirely on you — the state won’t do it and doesn’t require it, PFAS or otherwise.

Key resources: Georgia EPD — Drinking Water · Georgia Department of Public Health — Well Water · Southern Environmental Law Center — Calhoun PFAS Settlement

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Indiana Source Directory

Verified: August 2026

Indiana turned out to be a better-documented state than Michigan in one important way: several sources here are on official, monitored public water systems, and one artesian well is tested monthly by a parks department. That said, the same rule applies — verify before you fill.

Flowing Well Park, Carmel — 🟢 GOOD*

Carmel, Hamilton County · Artesian well in a public park · Open 7am–9pm daily · Free
Address: 5100 E 116th St, Carmel, IN 46033
RV notes: The parking lot is small and fills up on summer weekends. This is a container-fill stop, not a place to bring a large rig — plan to park and carry jugs.
What we know: This is the best-documented free artesian source we found in Indiana. Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation is required by the state to test quarterly for bacteria, but tests monthly instead, in partnership with the City of Carmel Water Department. When results come back positive for total coliform they re-test; a positive E. coli result closes the well immediately until disinfection brings it back into compliance.
Important caveat: The park is explicit that this is untreated groundwater straight from the aquifer, that quality can vary day to day, and that there are inherent risks in drinking untreated water. The well has been closed for contamination before — flooding can contaminate the spigots. The park asks visitors to avoid touching the spigots with hands or containers and not to drink directly from them. Respect any closure signage. Given the monitoring record this earns a GOOD* rating, but it is not the same thing as treated municipal water.
Source: Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation

Potato Creek State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

North Liberty, St. Joseph County · State park potable fill station · Entry/campground fee
Address: North Liberty, IN 46554
RV notes: Genuinely RV-friendly. The fresh-water filling stations at both the family campground and horsemen’s campground were renovated recently and are reported clean and easy to access, with multiple fill points. A frost-free hydrant at the horsemen’s fill station keeps water available into winter.
What we know: This is treated public-supply water at a state-run facility — a documented potable basis, not a wild source. Full chemistry panel including fluoride wasn’t located, and as a treated public supply it may well be fluoridated.
Source: Indiana DNR State Parks

Indiana Dunes State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Chesterton, Porter County · State park campground potable water · Campground fee
Address: 1600 N 25 E, Chesterton, IN 46304
RV notes: Accommodates RVs up to 55 feet. There’s a water filling station just past the campground entrance and a dump station across from the exit — convenient one-stop resupply. Note this is an electric-only campground: no water or sewer hookups at individual sites, so arrive with tanks full or plan to use the fill station.
What we know: Documented potable water at a state-run campground. Fluoride and full chemistry not located.
Source: Indiana DNR State Parks

Brown County State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Nashville, Brown County · State park potable fill station · Entry/campground fee
Address: 1801 IN-46, Nashville, IN 47448
RV notes — read this one carefully: All RVs and vehicles towing trailers must use the park’s west entrance on State Road 46, about two miles west of Nashville. The north entrance crosses a historic covered bridge with a 9-foot height clearance and a 3-ton weight limit — oversized vehicles are prohibited. GPS directions have been reported to send drivers to the wrong entrance, so navigate deliberately.
What we know: The Buffalo Ridge campground has a water fill station and stays open year-round with reduced winter facilities. Treated public supply.
Source: Indiana DNR State Parks

Johnny Appleseed Campground, Fort Wayne — 🟢 GOOD*

Fort Wayne, Allen County · Municipal campground potable water · Campground fee · Seasonal
Address: 1500 N Harry Baals Dr, Fort Wayne, IN 46805
RV notes: A genuinely handy in-city stop along the St. Joseph River with a dump station near the entrance. No sewer hookups at sites, but there’s a pump-truck service. Season runs roughly May through October — the campground closes off-season, so plan an alternate fill if you’re passing through in winter.
What we know: Municipal water supply at a city-run campground. Some visitors have reported the water fill point isn’t obvious, so it may be worth asking the camp host on arrival.
Source: Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation

Spring Park Artesian Well, Gary — 🟡 CAUTION

Gary, Lake County · Public artesian well in a small park · Open 24 hours · Free
Address: 3610 Chase St, Gary, IN 46408
RV notes: Parking for roughly three cars. This is a container-fill stop only — not RV-accessible.
What we know: A small, maintained public park built around a flowing artesian well, with seating and shade. Visitors report a noticeable sulfur smell and taste, and the ground beneath the spout has been reported as very slippery. No current potable-water testing was located.
Source: City of Gary

Pittsburg Artesian Spring, Delphi — 🟡 CAUTION

Delphi area, Carroll County · Artesian spring / historical landmark · Free
Address: Howard St, Delphi, IN 46923
RV notes: Container fill in a small village setting; RV maneuvering not verified.
What we know: A long-established community spring with generations of documented local use. Visitors report reliable flow and good taste as recently as 2025. One practical note: online GPS coordinates for this one have been reported as unreliable — it sits across the street from the American Legion building. No current lab panel located.
Source: Find A Spring

Frankton Artesian Well — 🟡 CAUTION

Frankton, Madison County · Flowing artesian well / rural roadside source · Free reported
Address: Frankton, IN 46044
RV notes: Container fill reported; rural back-road location, RV access not verified.
What we know: Local reporting describes a continuously flowing well on the outskirts of Frankton that a dozen-plus residents a day visit, with people regularly taking away 15 gallons at a time. The well dates to a turn-of-the-century gas-drilling attempt. One thing worth knowing: the outflow has been described as leaving a rust-colored residue on plant life as it runs toward a nearby creek, which suggests high iron content. No current potable testing was located, and exact access should be verified.
Source: The Herald Bulletin

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Kentucky Source Directory

Verified: August 2026

Kentucky research turned up fewer sources than the states before it, and that’s worth explaining rather than padding around. The state’s own Division of Water publishes a fact sheet on roadside springs that answers the safety question in one word: “No.” We take that seriously here — it’s why this state leans almost entirely on official state park and federal campgrounds, with a single documented spring included as a clearly-flagged exception.

Kentucky Horse Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Lexington, Fayette County · State-run campground with water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 4089 Iron Works Pike, Lexington, KY 40511
RV notes: 260 sites, all with water and 20/30/50-amp electric service — no sewer at site, but two dump stations handle that. Water is shut off at sites mid-November to mid-March for freezing. Paved pads, big-rig friendly.
What we know: Operated by Kentucky State Parks within the Kentucky Horse Park equestrian venue — treated public supply at a state-run facility.
Source: Kentucky State Parks

Carter Caves State Resort Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Olive Hill, Carter County · State resort park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 344 Caveland Dr, Olive Hill, KY 41164
RV notes: 128+ sites; full-hookup RV sites with 30/50-amp electric are available at select loops, with water within 25 ft of most other sites. Closed mid-November to mid-March. Mature trees make some spots tight — a 50-ft hose is worth having on hand, and not every electric site also has sewer, so check the specific site before booking.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility built around one of Kentucky’s most extensive cave systems.
Source: Kentucky State Parks

General Butler State Resort Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Carrollton, Carroll County · State resort park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 1608 KY-227, Carrollton, KY 41008
RV notes: 111 sites with electric and water; full-hookup (water/sewer) options are available. Utilities can sit several feet from the pad, so bring extra cord and hose. Open year-round.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility sitting where the Kentucky and Ohio Rivers meet.
Source: Kentucky State Parks

Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Gilbertsville, Marshall County, on Kentucky Lake · State resort park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 727 Gilbertsville Hwy, Gilbertsville, KY 42044
RV notes: Sites with water and electric (20/30-amp); no sewer at site, two dump stations. Hookups often sit several feet from the pad — bring a long cord and hose. Some interior loops remain closed following past flood damage.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility — with a caveat worth knowing. In October 2023, PFAS (“forever chemicals”) forced the shutdown of a well feeding this park’s water treatment plant, after testing found contamination at nearly three times the new federal limit. The utility switched the park onto clean wells at another treatment plant. We’re including it here because that response is exactly what a monitored public system is supposed to do — catch the problem and act on it — but it’s worth checking current water quality reports before you fill a large tank.
Source: Kentucky State Parks · Kentucky Lantern, PFAS reporting

Mammoth Cave Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County · National park campground, central potable fill station · Camping fee, no park entry fee
Address: 1 Mammoth Cave Pkwy, Mammoth Cave, KY 42259
RV notes: 108 sites (RVs to 38 ft, trailers to 26 ft); no site hookups except two VIP sites generally unavailable to the public. Central dump and fill station near the Camp Store, free for registered campers. All wheels must stay on the paved pad.
What we know: Treated public supply at a National Park Service facility, a five-minute walk from the visitor center.
Source: Recreation.gov / National Park Service

Whittleton Campground, Natural Bridge State Resort Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Slade, Powell County, in the Red River Gorge area · State resort park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 2135 Natural Bridge Rd, Slade, KY 40376
RV notes: ~40 sites; most have electric, and roughly a dozen also have water hookups. No sewer at site — central dump station instead. Sites can be tight for RVs over 30 ft; Middle Fork Campground in the same park has larger pull-throughs if you need the room.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility near the Natural Bridge rock arch.
Source: Kentucky State Parks

Sulphur Well Park — 🟡 CAUTION

Sulphur Well, Metcalfe County · Historic flowing artesian well / community park · Free
Address: Sulphur Well Historic District, KY 42129
RV notes: Small local park with limited parking — container fill only, not set up for RV maneuvering.
What we know: This is exactly the kind of source Kentucky’s Division of Water is warning about, and we’re including it precisely because it’s real, still flowing, and easy for a traveler to stumble onto. The well was struck in 1845 while drilling for salt; the water naturally carries sulphur, magnesium, salt, and iron, and was marketed for generations as having medicinal value. It has flowed continuously since, and recent visitor reports confirm the spring is still active. No current potable testing was located.
Source: Eastern Kentucky Tourism / Historic Sulphur Well Park

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A Kentucky-Specific Warning: Roadside Springs

Every state so far has had its own version of “verify before you fill.” Kentucky’s version is more direct than most, because the state said it outright.

The Kentucky Division of Water publishes a public fact sheet titled “Drinking from Roadside Springs.” It asks the question plainly — is it safe? — and answers just as plainly: no. Spring water in Kentucky is not routinely tested or monitored to Safe Drinking Water Act standards, and the agency is direct that a spring can carry bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemicals with no taste, smell, or color to warn you. Good flow, cold water, and a long local reputation don’t change that. The agency’s stated recommendation is to get drinking water from a regulated public system or a properly maintained private well — not a spring, however charming.

There’s a geological reason this matters more here than in a lot of states. Much of Kentucky — especially the Bluegrass region and the area around Mammoth Cave — sits on karst limestone: soft bedrock riddled with sinkholes, underground streams, and caves. Surface water doesn’t spend years filtering down through soil and rock the way it does in most places; it can drop straight into a sinkhole and resurface in a spring a short distance away within hours. The state’s own groundwater guidance specifically flags illegal dumping in sinkholes as a contamination risk, right alongside fertilizer, septic systems, and livestock waste. A spring that looks like it’s bubbling up pure from deep underground may be much more directly connected to whatever’s happening on the surface nearby than it appears.

Worth knowing, even about the treated sources on this list: Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park — one of the GOOD* entries above — had a well feeding its water treatment plant taken offline in October 2023 after testing found PFAS (“forever chemicals”) at nearly three times the new federal limit. The utility switched the park onto clean wells at another plant. We kept it on this list rather than pulling it, because that’s the actual argument for treated public water over an untested spring: the contamination was caught by routine testing and acted on. A roadside spring has no equivalent safety net.

What this means practically:

• Treat any spring or well not on this list as undrinkable unless you can independently verify it’s part of a monitored public water system. Kentucky’s own water agency is explicit that this applies even to good-tasting, long-used, locally beloved springs.
• Lean on the state parks and federal campgrounds. Every GOOD* source on this list is a treated, monitored public water supply — that’s a real, meaningful difference from a spring, not just a formality.
• If you have a private well test done or use one while traveling, remember Kentucky doesn’t regulate private well water quality — that responsibility sits entirely with the well owner.
• Check current status before relying on any public system, including the ones listed here. PFAS testing and advisories are ongoing statewide, and a plant that’s clean today may not have been a year ago, or vice versa.

Key resources: Kentucky Division of Water — Drinking from Roadside Springs · Kentucky PFAS Explorer · Kentucky Division of Water — Groundwater

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Michigan Source Directory

Verified: August 2026

Norway Spring — 🟡 CAUTION

Norway, Dickinson County · Artesian spring / flowing well · Public roadside park · Free
Address: Norway, MI 49870
RV notes: Large-RV access uncertain; best treated as a roadside stop.
What we know: Artesian origin and public refill use are documented by a historical marker, but current lab chemistry hasn’t been located.
Source: Michigan historical marker / traveler reports

Flowing Well Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Hiawatha National Forest, Delta County · Well / flowing-well campground · Public campground (fee) · Small RVs reported, no hookups
Address: Rapid River, MI 49878
What we know: The U.S. Forest Service / Recreation.gov confirms drinking water is provided and the well water is safe to consume. Heavy iron/sulfur taste has been noted, and temporary outages can occur.
Source: Recreation.gov

Old Facefull — 🟡 CAUTION

Pierport / Onekama Township, Manistee County · Artesian spring · Public roadside spring (reported) · Free
Address: Lakeview Rd & 13 Mile Rd, Pierport, Bear Lake, MI 49614
RV notes: Container fill reported; RV maneuvering room not verified.
What we know: A documented artesian spring with a long history of travelers filling containers, but no current potable-water testing was located.
Source: Historical/geographic documentation

McAtee Organic Farms Artesian Spring Water — 🟡 CAUTION

Grass Lake, Jackson County · Private artesian spring · Private commercial source — call ahead · Reported ~$1.50/gal (verify current pricing)
Address: 4400 Sylvan Rd, Grass Lake, MI 49240
RV notes: Large-tank fill not verified.
What we know: A farm listing indicates spring water is sold/refilled for members. No current lab panel located.
Source: LocalHarvest listing

Deerfield Park Artesian Spring (lead) — 🟡 CAUTION

Isabella County · Artesian spring · Public park — verify current access
Address: 2425 W Remus Rd, Mt Pleasant, MI 48858
RV notes: Not verified.
What we know: Traveler reports identify this as an artesian spring with regular bacteria testing, but this needs confirmation from the managing authority before you rely on it.
Source: 2026 traveler reports

Thompson / Rogers Roadside Park Spring (lead) — 🟡 CAUTION

Manistique area, Schoolcraft County · Flowing spring / roadside source · Reported public roadside source — verify · Free reported
Address: Roadside Park, US-2, Manistique, MI 49854
RV notes: Container fill reported; RV access not verified.
What we know: Multiple 2026 traveler reports identify this as a public free-flowing drinking-water source. Official current testing hasn’t been located.
Source: 2026 traveler reports

White Cloud Park Spring — 🟡 CAUTION

White Cloud, Newaygo County · Flowing/artesian spring · Public park; verify current access · Free reported
Address: 680 E Wilcox Ave, White Cloud, MI 49349
RV notes: RV/container access reported; large-RV maneuvering not verified.
What we know: A public flowing-well/spring site is documented by traveler reports. A nearby commercial spring-water operator describes the aquifer as artesian, but that doesn’t confirm the park fountain shares that source or is potable. No current lab results located for the park source itself.
Source: Find A Spring

Alanson Flowing Artesian Well — 🟡 CAUTION

Alanson, Emmet County · Flowing artesian well · Roadside public site reported; verify before use · Free reported
Address: 6984 US-31, Alanson, MI 49706
RV notes: Container fill reported; RV access not verified.
What we know: A documented flowing artesian well sits on/near US-31 at the north edge of Alanson. Historic and current access evidence exists, but current potable-water testing hasn’t been located.
Source: Geocaching EarthCache

Watervliet Artesian Well — M-140 Rest Area — 🟡 CAUTION

Watervliet, Berrien County · Flowing artesian well · Public roadside source reported · Free reported
Address: M-140, Watervliet, MI 49098
RV notes: Container fill reported; RV maneuvering not verified.
What we know: A continuously flowing public artesian well is reported at this rest area. A spring directory lists TDS 237 ppm, pH 7.8, and 48°F — useful context, but not a certified potable-water panel. Note: historical reports also mention a different nearby well that was closed for contamination, so confirming you’re at the right source matters.
Source: Find A Spring

Onekama / Portage Point Artesian Well — 🟡 CAUTION

Onekama area, Manistee County · Artesian well · Public location reported; verify current access · Free reported
Address: Portage Point Dr, Onekama, MI 49675
RV notes: Container fill reported; RV access not verified.
What we know: Recent traveler reports identify an artesian well on Portage Point Drive near Little Eden Camp. Michigan EGLE’s own flowing-well guidance notes Onekama as an area where flowing wells are abundant. Current potable testing and legal fill access still need verification.
Source: Michigan EGLE guidance

M-24 South of Millington Road Flowing Well — 🟡 CAUTION

Tuscola/Lapeer area · Flowing well / roadside source · Reported small roadside park; verify · Free reported
Address: Roadside Park Dr, Mayville, MI 48744
RV notes: Container fill reported; RV access not verified.
What we know: Traveler reports describe a small park with a nearly continuous flowing well. Exact current coordinates and official potable status still need verification.
Source: 2026 traveler reports

Straits State Park, St. Ignace — 🟢 GOOD*

St. Ignace, Mackinac County · State park potable fill station · Campground fee
Address: 720 Church St, St Ignace, MI 49781
RV notes: One of the better big-rig options in the U.P. The park is spacious with paved roads, and drivers of 40-foot motorhomes report plenty of room to maneuver — which isn’t always true of Michigan state parks. There are two dump stations and a potable water fill station. Sites are electric-only, so you’ll drive to the fill point rather than hooking up at your site.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility — a documented potable basis. Bonus: the Mackinac Bridge view at night is worth the stop on its own.
Source: Michigan DNR State Parks

William C. Sterling State Park, Monroe — 🟢 GOOD*

Monroe County, on Lake Erie · State park with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 511 N Lakeshore Dr, Monroe, MI 48162
RV notes: This is one of only a handful of Michigan state parks offering full hookups — meaning water at the site, not just a fill station you have to break camp to reach. Paved back-in and drive-through sites. Worth knowing if you’re running a larger rig and don’t want to move it just to take on water. Downside: very little shade, and the access road has been described as rough.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility.
Source: Michigan DNR State Parks

North Higgins Lake State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Roscommon County · State park with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 11747 N Higgins Lake Dr, Roscommon, MI 48653
RV notes: Another of Michigan’s limited full-hookup state parks, with a large campground built to handle both tents and RVs. Central location makes it a practical mid-state resupply point.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility.
Source: Michigan DNR State Parks

Muskegon State Park Beach Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Muskegon County · State park campground potable water · Campground fee
Address: 481 N Scenic Dr, Muskegon, MI 49445
RV notes: This one has an unusual perk for a Michigan state park — water at every campsite, alongside electric hookups. Campers who’ve stayed at a lot of state parks specifically call this out as rare. Trade-off: sites are on the smaller side and it can feel crowded in peak season.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility.
Source: Michigan DNR State Parks

Tahquamenon Falls — Lower Falls Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Paradise, Chippewa County · State park campground potable water · Campground fee
Address: 6999 N Lower Campground Ln, Paradise, MI 49768
RV notes: Sites are electric-only, but there’s water available to fill up within the park. Important: RV size restrictions do apply here, and for good reason given the access roads — check current limits before booking a larger rig.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility. A worthwhile stop if you’re routing through the eastern U.P.
Source: Michigan DNR State Parks

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A Michigan-Specific Warning: PFAS

I went looking for more Michigan sources and found something I think matters more than any single spring on this list. It changed how I’d approach filling up in this state, so I’m putting it here rather than burying it.

Michigan has one of the most extensively documented PFAS groundwater problems in the country — the “forever chemicals” that don’t break down and that standard filtration often won’t remove. By the end of the 2024 fiscal year, the state’s PFAS Action Response Team had identified roughly 330 sites where groundwater exceeded Michigan’s own PFAS drinking water criteria. The state confirmed its 300th contamination site in January 2025. These aren’t all abandoned industrial lots either — the list includes military bases, landfills, paper mills, airports, wastewater plants, and tanneries scattered across the state.

Here’s the part that bears directly on this guide. About a quarter of Michigan residents draw water from private wells, and private wells serving fewer than 25 people are not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. There’s no required testing, no enforceable limit, no one checking. Estimates suggest up to 3.2 million Michiganders may be drawing from PFAS-affected aquifers.

Now think about what a roadside artesian spring actually is: an unregulated groundwater source, drawing from the same aquifers, with nobody testing it. Michigan’s own flowing-well guidance acknowledges that many flowing wells in roadside parks and campgrounds serve as drinking water for people who stop to fill containers — but describing that reality is not the same as certifying it’s safe.

And PFAS doesn’t spread evenly. State investigators sampling private wells in one contaminated area found that on a single block, one well could test hot while the neighboring well showed little or nothing. Being near a “clean” source proves nothing about the source you’re standing at.

What this means practically:

• Check the state’s PFAS map before you fill. Michigan EGLE and MPART maintain a free public interactive map of confirmed PFAS sites and Areas of Interest — locations under investigation because contamination may be reaching residential wells. Look up any spring or well on this list before you rely on it. This is the single most useful pre-trip step for Michigan.
• Understand what your filter does and doesn’t do. Standard RV sediment and carbon filters are not designed for PFAS. If this concerns you, look specifically at filtration certified for PFAS reduction — a general “clean water” claim isn’t the same thing.
• Lean toward the state parks in this state. Michigan’s public water supplies are regulated for PFAS — EGLE set enforceable limits for seven PFAS compounds effective August 2020, and municipal suppliers do ongoing compliance monitoring. That’s a meaningful advantage over any unmonitored roadside spring, even a beautiful one.
• You can test. EGLE’s Drinking Water Analysis Laboratory offers comprehensive PFAS testing for private sources. It isn’t cheap, but if you have a source you use regularly, it’s an option.

None of this means the springs on this list are contaminated. It means nobody has checked, and in Michigan specifically, “nobody has checked” carries more weight than it might elsewhere. That’s exactly why every unverified source here is marked 🟡 CAUTION — and why the 🟢 GOOD* ratings all sit with monitored public systems.

Key resources: MPART PFAS Interactive Map · Michigan PFAS Response — Drinking Water and Wells · EGLE Drinking Water Testing

Mississippi Source Directory

Verified: August 2026

Mississippi’s six GOOD* entries all come from the same place: the state park system, which runs full-hookup or water/electric campgrounds from the Gulf Coast at Buccaneer up to Tishomingo on the Natchez Trace. Every one is a treated public supply — nobody publishes fluoride numbers on the park pages, so that stays unknown, but “state park with a water hookup” is a real, monitored source. Beyond the parks, natural sources are thin here. We found two flowing artesian sources with a real history of public use — a red-tinted well in the tiny town of Shubuta and a forest spring outside Betheden — and kept them both, marked CAUTION, because they’re genuine and still used. A third lead, a spring near Purvis with a documented public following, didn’t have verifiable coordinates from any source we could find, so it’s left off the map and out of this list. If you know the exact location, that’s worth telling us.

Percy Quin State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

McComb, Pike County · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 2036 Percy Quin Dr, McComb, MS 39648
RV notes: 102 campsites, all full hookup — 50/30/20-amp electric, water, and sewer — on paved roads; 20 lakefront premium sites. Day-use entry is $2/person (5 and under free). Reservations open 12 months out; call (601) 684-3938.
What we know: State-run park campground with full-hookup water service at every site — a treated public supply, not a natural source. Fluoride and full chemistry weren’t published in the park’s own materials.
Source: Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks — Percy Quin State Park

Buccaneer State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Waveland, Hancock County · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 1150 S Beach Blvd, Waveland, MS 39576
RV notes: 206 premium campsites across multiple loops, each with water, 30/50-amp electric, and sewer; 44 newer Gulf View sites add concrete pads. This is a Gulf Coast park — it’s been through hurricane recovery before, so confirm which loops are open before you book.
What we know: Treated public supply serving the hookup sites.
Source: Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks — Buccaneer State Park

Bob M. Dearing Natchez State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Natchez, Adams County · State park campground, full hookup and water/electric sites · Campground fee
Address: 230B Wickcliff, Natchez, MS 39120
RV notes: 50 developed sites — 6 full hookup with 50/30/20-amp electric, water, and sewer, plus 44 water/electric only. Central dump station serves everyone else.
What we know: Treated public supply.
Source: Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks — Bob M. Dearing Natchez State Park

Lake Lowndes State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Columbus, Lowndes County · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 3319 Lake Lowndes Rd, Columbus, MS 39702
RV notes: 50 lakeside RV sites with water, 50/30/20-amp electric, and sewer. Comfort station on site with hot showers, washer, and dryer.
What we know: Treated public supply.
Source: Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks — Lake Lowndes State Park

Tishomingo State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Tishomingo, Tishomingo County · State park campground, mixed water/electric and full hookup · Campground fee ($17–44/night)
Address: State Park Rd (CR 90), Tishomingo, MS 38873 — at Milepost 304 of the Natchez Trace Parkway
RV notes: 61 paved developed sites: 37 water/electric only, 24 full hookup (50/30/20-amp plus sewer), and 14 primitive sites with no hookups at all. Hookup type varies by site number — confirm exactly which site you’re booking before you commit.
What we know: Treated public supply serving the developed campground loop.
Source: Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks — Tishomingo State Park

Hugh White State Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Grenada, Grenada County · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 3170 State Park Rd, Grenada, MS 38901
RV notes: 128 developed sites in a shaded area below the Grenada Lake Dam; water and electric hookups, but no sewer at the site — use the central dump station. One power pedestal serves every two sites, so bring a second cord if you need full access.
What we know: Treated public supply.
Source: Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks — Hugh White State Park

Shubuta Red Water Artesian Well — 🟡 CAUTION

Shubuta, Clarke County · Historic flowing artesian well / public gazebo · Free
Address: SE corner of W Eucutta St & Station St, one block east of MS-145/High St, Shubuta, MS 39360
RV notes: Small-town roadside stop with limited parking around the gazebo — plan on container fill, not RV maneuvering.
What we know: A still-flowing artesian well and long-standing local landmark, tinted reddish-brown by natural mineral content and carrying a mild sulfur smell. Local tradition treats it as drinkable, and it’s been used that way for generations — a resident quoted in local coverage keeps a jug in the fridge. But visitor reports are mixed; a 2022 visit noted algae buildup on the faucet. No current potability testing was located. Treat it like every other roadside well or spring on this guide: real, still flowing, not independently verified.
Source: Roadside America — Shubuta Red Water Artesian Well

Hamill Spring — 🟡 CAUTION

Near Betheden, Winston County, Tombigbee National Forest · Roadside flowing spring · Free
Address: Forest Service road near Betheden, Winston County, MS 39769
RV notes: Easy roadside pull-off on a well-maintained road, car and small-RV accessible. No dump station, hookups, or camping here — it’s a fill stop, not a campsite.
What we know: Water flows continuously from a PVC pipe at a roadside pull-off inside the national forest, named for an early settler and used since the 1800s. Multiple spring-directory listings describe it as “tested monthly by forest services,” but we couldn’t find that testing program documented on any official U.S. Forest Service page for the Tombigbee National Forest. Treat the monthly-testing claim as an unverified visitor report, not a confirmed fact, until the Forest Service confirms it directly.
Source: Try Water Club — Hamill Spring

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A Mississippi-Specific Warning: PFAS Nobody’s Testing For

Every state on this guide has its own version of “verify before you fill.” Mississippi’s is quiet, because almost nobody is looking.

In 2023, Consumer Reports and the nonprofit newsroom Mississippi Today (through its Mississippi Spotlight project) tested 149 water samples pulled from municipal and private-well systems across all 82 of Mississippi’s counties — every county in the state. Ninety-eight percent of those samples, 146 out of 149, had measurable PFAS (“forever chemicals”). Nearly a third exceeded the EPA’s health advisory level for PFOA, and almost half exceeded the advisory for PFOS. Twenty-three percent of counties tested above 10 parts per trillion, the threshold Consumer Reports uses as its own recommended ceiling. Alcorn County came back highest at 93 ppt, followed by Carroll (52), Lamar (47), Harrison (46), and Forrest (44) counties. Every single sample also had measurable arsenic and lead — Greene and Pike counties topped 3 parts per billion for arsenic. Pike County is where Percy Quin State Park sits; that’s not a reason to avoid the park’s own treated hookup water, but it says something about what’s sitting in the ground nearby.

The investigators’ own conclusion was blunt: most Mississippians have no idea any of this is in their water, because the state doesn’t test for PFAS. There’s no state-run PFAS monitoring program comparable to what Michigan or Kentucky run. Whatever gets found gets found by outside researchers and journalists, not by a standing state system built to catch it.

Worth knowing, as supporting context: Jackson’s water system — not on this list, and a system this guide has never recommended — spent years under boil-water notices and a 2022 near-total collapse before a federally appointed manager took over. As of JXN Water’s own December 2025 quarterly report, the system reached full compliance with the federal Lead and Copper Rule in 2026, the first time it’s met that standard in recent memory, and independent testing by the Clarion Ledger in early 2026 found no E. coli across 16 samples. But control of the system is still contested in the legislature, the utility carries $74.4 million in unpaid customer bills, and a class-action lawsuit over the city’s earlier lead disclosures is still working through the Fifth Circuit. We’re not naming this to scare anyone off Mississippi’s public water — we’re naming it because it’s the clearest example in the state of what happens when a system fails: it took a federal receiver, years of national attention, and a court fight to get one city’s water back into compliance. That’s the backdrop against which “the state doesn’t test for PFAS” should be read.

What this means practically:

• Lean on the state parks on this list. They’re treated public supplies, and that’s a real advantage over an untested spring or private well — even without a dedicated state PFAS program, municipal systems face more scrutiny than a roadside source ever will.
• Don’t assume a clear roadside spring or well is clean just because it’s flowing and locally loved. Shubuta and Hamill Spring above are both genuine, long-used sources — and both are exactly the kind of untested groundwater this 2023 investigation is describing. Neither has a documented PFAS, arsenic, or lead test on record.
• If you’re relying on a private well anywhere in Mississippi — your own, a friend’s, a campground’s — know that the state doesn’t require or run PFAS testing on it. If it matters to you, testing is on you.
• Filter for what your filter actually claims. Standard RV sediment/carbon filters aren’t built for PFAS. If this concerns you, look for filtration specifically certified for PFAS reduction.

Key resources: Consumer Reports & Mississippi Spotlight — Toxic PFAS in Mississippi’s Drinking Water · Mississippi State Department of Health — Private Well Testing · SuperTalk Mississippi — Jackson’s Water Status, 2026

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Ohio Source Directory

Verified: August 2026

Ohio leans heavily on its state park system for this edition — and that turned out to be a good thing. Six of the eight sources below sit on documented, treated public water supplies at ODNR-run campgrounds, several with full hookups. The two non-park sources are honest, well-documented private operations, but neither carries current official public-water-system status, so both stay CAUTION. Same rule as always: verify before you fill.

Hocking Hills State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Logan, Hocking County · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 19852 OH-664, Logan, OH 43138
RV notes: The campground offers full hook-up, electric (20/30/50-amp), and non-electric sites, each with a paved pad. Off-peak season (Nov 1–Apr 1) trims things back to Shower House 1, the dump station, and the camp store, with water available only at Shower House 1. Worth knowing before you book: an electrical-upgrade project closed sections of the campground between September 2025 and April 2026 — everything was scheduled to reopen May 1, 2026, but confirm the current site map before you go.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility, right next to Old Man’s Cave.
Source: Ohio DNR State Parks

Maumee Bay State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Oregon, Lucas County, on Lake Erie · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: Park Rd 12, Oregon, OH 43616
RV notes: A large, modern campground with 256 sites. Sites 1–11 and 21–29 are full hookup (water, sewer, electric), though water at those sites is shut off during the cold months with fees reduced accordingly. The remaining sites are electric-only, with water available at fill stations placed throughout the campground.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility just east of Toledo. See the Lake Erie algal-bloom note below — it doesn’t affect this tap water, but it matters if you’re anywhere near the beach here in summer.
Source: Ohio DNR State Parks

Salt Fork State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Lore City/Cambridge, Guernsey County · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 14755 Cadiz Rd, Lore City, OH 43755
RV notes: Ohio’s largest state park, and the campground matches that scale — roughly 212 sites, about 170 with 50-amp electric and 40 full hookup (water, electric, sewer). Off-peak (Dec 8–Apr 1) only Loop A and the Bridle Camp stay open; full-hookup sites lose water service until spring, though Loop A’s shower house keeps a heated outdoor spigot running.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility. The Salt Fork Beach Complex was under construction as of spring 2026 — that affects beach-area facilities, not the campground water.
Source: Ohio DNR State Parks

East Harbor State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Marblehead, Ottawa County, on Lake Erie · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 1169 N Buck Rd, Lakeside Marblehead, OH 43440
RV notes: The largest campground in the entire Ohio State Park system — a mix of full hookup, 300-plus electric, and non-electric sites, plus a dump station and two boat-launch ramps for campers. Off-peak (Nov 1–Apr 1) only electric sites B1–B64 stay open, and water moves to the check-in office.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility on the Marblehead peninsula. Same Lake Erie caveat as Maumee Bay applies to the beach here, not the tap water.
Source: Ohio DNR State Parks

Shawnee State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

West Portsmouth, Scioto County · State park potable fill station · Campground fee
Address: Blue Creek, OH 45616
RV notes: Water fill station is located behind the Camp Store. Off-peak (Nov 1–Apr 1) the dump station has no water. This is an older, hilly campground — several campers report short, unlevel sites, so pick carefully when reserving.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility overlooking Turkey Creek Lake in the Appalachian foothills.
Source: Ohio DNR State Parks

John Barker Spring House, Canton — 🟢 GOOD*

Canton, Stark County · Municipal springhouse / public artesian well · Open 24 hours · Free
Address: 1633 Monument Rd NW, Canton, OH 44709
RV notes: A small neighborhood-park lot near Stadium Park. Four faucets flow continuously into a trough for container fill — there isn’t room here for anything beyond a quick stop with jugs, not a large-RV maneuver.
What we know: The water comes from a 6-inch, 200-foot well drilled by the Canton Water Department in the 1920s, and the city’s parks department has the spring water tested twice a year by the Ohio EPA. The current structure was rebuilt in 2017 after the original 1968 springhouse developed plumbing and structural problems.
Source: Canton Parks and Recreation

Seven Creeks Roadside Spring — 🟡 CAUTION

Steubenville area, Jefferson County · Private commercial roadside spring · Self-serve 24/7, $0.50/gallon
Address: 939 7 Creeks Rd, Steubenville, OH 43952
RV notes: Container fill only, at a small pull-off. The surrounding land is private property — stay near your vehicle rather than walking the creek, per visitor reports.
What we know: This one has a genuinely interesting regulatory history. The Ohio EPA tested the water in 1997 and found no contaminant limits exceeded, and the site operated under an Ohio Department of Agriculture bottled-water license from 1998 to 2008. The state then reversed course, ruling that roadside springs can’t be licensed as public water systems — so despite a clean testing record, this source currently carries no official potable-water status. The operator states monthly lab testing continues, but that’s self-reported, not independently confirmed.
Source: Operator history and Ohio EPA correspondence

Deep Springs Trout Club — 🟡 CAUTION

Chardon, Geauga County · Private club well / spring water fill station · $0.50/gallon
Address: 11069 Chardon Rd, Chardon, OH 44024
RV notes: Twenty-four spigots sized for 1- and 5-gallon jugs — large-tank or RV fill isn’t documented. Winter hours are limited to Friday–Sunday, 9am–5pm (Nov–Mar); confirm current hours and payment method before making the drive, since a mix of cash and card has been reported.
What we know: The club draws from a 320-foot well and states its water has been tested quarterly by the county health department since 1963, with reports posted in the clubhouse. Dining and fishing here require membership, but the water fill station is open to the public. This falls under Ohio’s private water system program rather than public water system regulation, so it’s a credible, long-documented private source — not an officially certified public one.
Source: Deep Springs Trout Club

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An Ohio-Specific Warning: Lake Erie Algal Blooms

Michigan’s water problem is underground and invisible. Ohio’s is right on the surface, and you can often see it coming.

Every summer, the western basin of Lake Erie — the shallowest, warmest part of the lake, and the same water that two of the GOOD* sources on this list (Maumee Bay and East Harbor) sit beside — grows a bloom of cyanobacteria, commonly called blue-green algae. Some of it produces microcystin, a toxin that damages the liver. In August 2014, a bloom drifted over Toledo’s water-plant intake and forced a two-to-three-day “Do Not Drink” advisory for roughly 400,000 people. That crisis is over a decade old now, but the bloom itself is not: as recently as the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Maumee Bay State Park’s own beach has posted “Danger — avoid all contact with the water” signs when toxin levels crossed the safety threshold, even while families waded in nearby. The 2025 bloom measured 6.5 out of 10 on NOAA’s severity index, started about two weeks earlier than the historical average, and lasted into mid-October; Toledo’s treatment plant had to step up treatment on 23 separate days that season.

An important distinction, since this could otherwise read as a contradiction with the GOOD* ratings above: the tap water and fill stations at Maumee Bay and East Harbor come from treated, monitored public water systems, which are required to add extra treatment during a bloom — that’s a real part of why those campgrounds keep a GOOD* rating even in a state with this problem. The hazard isn’t the campground spigot. It’s the lake itself, and anything connected to it.

What this means practically:

• Never fill a tank straight from Lake Erie — or from a connected pond, marina, or any standing water in the western basin that looks green, scummy, or paint-like on the surface — no matter how convenient the access looks. This applies roughly June through October, with blooms sometimes starting earlier and running later.
• Check before you swim, wade, or let pets in the water. The Ohio Department of Health’s BeachGuard site tracks current advisories at monitored beaches, and Ohio EPA maintains a statewide HAB monitoring map.
• Pets are especially vulnerable. Keep dogs out of water with visible scum, even if people are swimming nearby — animals are more likely to drink the water and show symptoms faster.
• This isn’t limited to Lake Erie’s shoreline. Inland lakes and slow-moving rivers statewide can bloom too, whenever it’s warm and nutrient levels are high — the same check-before-you-go habit applies anywhere green water shows up.

Key resources: Ohio BeachGuard (beach advisories) · Ohio EPA Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring · Ohio Department of Health — HABs

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Tennessee Source Directory

Verified: August 2026

Tennessee leans on its state park system for this edition, the same way Ohio did — and for the same reason: it’s the most reliably documented water in the state. Seven of the eight sources below sit at treated, monitored public campgrounds (six state parks and one national park). The single non-park source is a genuine historic public well with a documented past, but no current testing record, so it stays CAUTION. TDEC’s own guidance is blunt about why we’re not padding this list with more roadside springs — see the karst warning below.

Fall Creek Falls State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Spencer, Van Buren County, Cumberland Plateau · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 2009 Village Camp Rd, Spencer, TN 38585
RV notes: The park’s flagship campground spans five loops with 198 developed sites — all have water and 20/30/50-amp electric, and 107 also have sewer. Some sites take RVs up to 65 ft. Approach from the south entrance if you’re driving anything large; the north entrance involves steep switchbacks that towing vehicles should avoid.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility built around Tennessee’s tallest free-falling waterfall.
Source: Tennessee State Parks

Montgomery Bell State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Burns, Dickson County · State park campground with full hookups · Campground fee
Address: 1020 Jackson Hill Rd, Burns, TN 37029
RV notes: Also called the Four Mile Creek Campground — 109 sites total: 40 full hookup (water/electric/sewer), 47 water-and-electric only, 22 tent-only. Accommodates rigs to 60 ft.
Important caveat: The campground underwent a renovation that closed it into spring 2026. Recent visitor activity suggests it’s back open, but confirm the current site map and any remaining closures directly with the park before you book.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility about 30 miles west of Nashville.
Source: Tennessee State Parks

Paris Landing State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Buchanan, Henry County, on Kentucky Lake · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: Buchanan, TN 38222
RV notes: 45 sites with water and 30- or 50-amp electric. No sewer at individual sites, but there’s a dump station. Campsites accommodate RVs up to 38 ft.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility on the western shore of the Tennessee River.
Source: Tennessee State Parks

Henry Horton State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Chapel Hill, Marshall County, on the Duck River · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: Campground Loop Rd, Chapel Hill, TN 37034
RV notes: 56 paved RV sites, each with water and 20/30/50-amp electric. No sewer at site — a single dump station sits near the exit. Tent camping is also permitted in the RV loop if you need hookups.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility about 50 minutes south of Nashville.
Source: Tennessee State Parks

Norris Dam State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Rocky Top, Campbell/Anderson County, on Norris Lake · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 125 Village Green Cir, Rocky Top, TN 37769
RV notes: Two separate campgrounds, 75 sites combined. West Campground has 50 sites and takes rigs to 60 ft; East Campground has 25 sites and takes rigs to 56 ft (note: East Campground sites 4–25 sit under TVA powerlines, mostly sun). Both are water-and-electric with no site sewer, and both have their own dump station. The road down to the West Campground is steep with sharp curves — take it slow.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state park built in the 1930s around the original Tennessee Valley Authority dam project.
Source: Tennessee State Parks

David Crockett State Park Campground — 🟢 GOOD*

Lawrenceburg, Lawrence County · State park campground, water/electric hookups · Campground fee
Address: 156 Crockett Pk Rd, Lawrenceburg, TN 38464
RV notes: Two campgrounds along Shoal Creek. Campground #1 has 45 sites with 30-amp electric and water, open seasonally (mid-March through November). Campground #2 has 52 newly paved sites with 20/30/50-amp electric and water, open year-round, plus a dump station. RV length limits run 50–55 ft depending on the specific site.
What we know: Treated public supply at a state-run facility.
Source: Tennessee State Parks

Cades Cove Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park — 🟢 GOOD*

Townsend, Blount County · National park campground, central potable fill/dump station · Camping fee, no separate park entry fee
Address: 10042 Campground Dr, Townsend, TN 37882
RV notes: 159 sites with no individual hookups — this is a fill-and-go stop, not a full-hookup one. Drinking water is available at the bathhouses, and there’s a potable-water dump station in the campground. Most sites take RVs in the 35–40 ft range; check the specific site’s listed length on Recreation.gov before you book, since it varies site to site. Open year-round with reduced winter loops.
What we know: Treated public supply at a National Park Service facility in one of the park’s most popular valleys — arrive early, it fills fast in summer and fall.
Source: Recreation.gov / National Park Service

The Electro Chalybeate Well, Jackson — 🟡 CAUTION

Jackson, Madison County · Municipal springhouse / public artesian well · Free
Address: 600-698 S Royal St, Jackson, TN 38301
RV notes: Container fill only. Park in the small visitors lot and walk a short distance to the gazebo that houses the well; three bubblers draw the water. Not set up for large-rig maneuvering.
What we know: A historic artesian well dating to the early 1900s, once part of the 54-acre Lancaster Park. A historical plaque on-site notes it was originally believed to have medicinal value; the water carries a noticeable sulfur/mineral taste today, consistent with that history. It’s clearly marked as untreated artesian well water. No current potable-water testing was located.
Source: Find A Spring

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A Tennessee-Specific Warning: Karst Ground and Unregulated Wells

Kentucky’s water agency told us flat-out not to drink from roadside springs. Tennessee’s doesn’t put it quite that bluntly, but read between the lines of its own groundwater report and the message is the same.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) publishes a statewide groundwater quality report that says plainly: private wells and springs are not regulated by the state. Well drillers need a license and have to file paperwork on new wells, but once a well or spring is in the ground, testing and upkeep are entirely on the owner — there’s no state requirement to test it, ever, for anything. TDEC’s own FAQ on private water supplies confirms this directly: Tennessee has no sampling or analysis requirements for private water sources.

Geography makes this matter more in parts of Tennessee than in a lot of states. TDEC’s groundwater report specifically calls out karst areas — limestone bedrock riddled with sinkholes and underground channels, common across Middle Tennessee’s Highland Rim and Cumberland Plateau, and the same terrain that makes Tennessee cave country. In karst, groundwater moves fast through the rock instead of filtering slowly through soil, so a spring can be much more directly connected to whatever is happening on the surface nearby — failing septic systems, illegal dump sites, agricultural runoff — than its clear, cold flow would suggest. TDEC names all three of those as known contamination pathways in the same report.

Worth knowing about drinking water more broadly in Tennessee: PFAS (“forever chemicals”) has been confirmed at five military bases in the state, and TDEC ran a statewide sampling initiative in October 2023 testing public drinking water sources for 29 PFAS compounds. That’s a separate issue from the karst/private-well problem above — it affects public systems too, not just wells and springs — but it’s part of the same larger picture: know where your water is coming from, because “it’s always been fine” isn’t the same as “it’s been tested.”

What this means practically:

• Treat any spring or well not on this list as unverified unless you can confirm it’s part of a monitored public water system. A long local history of use and good taste don’t substitute for testing — TDEC’s own language makes clear nobody is required to check.
• Lean on the state parks and national park campgrounds. Every GOOD* source on this list is treated, monitored public water — that’s the real, structural reason to prefer them over a roadside spring here, same as in Kentucky.
• If you own or rely on a private well in Tennessee, know that testing is entirely your responsibility — the state won’t do it for you and doesn’t require it.
• Don’t assume “no PFAS regulation” means “no PFAS.” Confirmed contamination at multiple Tennessee military sites means it’s worth checking current water quality reports for any public system you’re relying on regularly, not just wells and springs.

Key resources: TDEC — Groundwater Quality Report · TDEC — Private Well Water FAQ · TDEC — PFAS Sampling Results, Tennessee Source Water

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Coverage Status

States currently covered: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee.

States planned for future research: Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas.

A few notes on how we’re approaching the states still ahead:

• Arizona will lean on the state’s Groundwater Site Inventory to identify wells and springs, then cross-check legal access and drinking-water status.
• Across every state, official public-water records or certified lab results are the gold standard. Crowdsourced leads (like traveler forum reports) stay marked as leads — not confirmed sources — until we can verify them.

Have a source you trust that should be on this map? We’d love to hear about it — send the name, location, and anything you know about it our way.

✉️ Suggest a Source

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This guide reflects research current as of August 2026 and is provided for informational purposes only. Water source conditions, access, and safety can change. Always verify current conditions before relying on any source, and use appropriate filtration in your RV regardless of a source’s rating. — Craig