Private well · contaminant risk profile
If your water comes from a private well, no utility checks it and no law requires anyone to. That means most owners have no idea what's actually worth testing for. This report tells you the contaminants common to your area and exactly what to test, in priority order.
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How it works
You don't need lab numbers to start. This report begins from where your well is and what tends to turn up in wells around it, so you know what to test before you spend a cent on a lab.
We locate your well and the aquifer and land use around it, not just the middle of your ZIP.
We pull the contaminants most reported in wells in your area from USGS domestic-well data and compare each to its EPA limit.
A prioritized list of exactly what to test for, why it matters here, and where to send a sample, as a PDF.
Why private wells are different
Public water systems are regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. They test constantly, report results, and have to fix violations. If you're on a private well, none of that applies. The EPA does not regulate private wells, and testing is entirely up to the owner.
That's the gap this report fills. Most well owners have never tested, or tested once at drilling and never again, because no one told them what to look for or how often. Contamination is usually invisible: nitrate, arsenic, and bacteria have no taste, color, or smell.
The only way to know what's in your well is to test it. This report tells you what's worth testing for first.
Risks aren't random. They track the local geology and land use: arsenic and radon come from bedrock, nitrate from farms and septic systems, coliform bacteria from surface water getting into the well. Knowing which of these are common near you turns a vague worry into a short, specific to-do list.
Honest sample output
Here's the shape of the report for an example rural address. It's the risk picture for the area, used to prioritize what you test, then you send a sample to a lab to learn what's actually in your water.
The report estimates risk from where your well is, using USGS data on nearby wells. It cannot measure your specific water. Only a lab test can do that, which is exactly what the panel helps you order.
What's in the report
Six pages built for a well owner who wants a clear next step, not a chemistry lecture.
The contaminants most reported in domestic wells around your location, ranked by how likely and how serious they are.
Every risk shown against the EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level or health advisory, so you know what "too high" means.
A short, ordered list of what to test for first, so you spend on the tests that matter for your area.
The local geology and land use, aquifer type, nearby agriculture, that make each contaminant more or less likely.
Where to find a certified lab, how to collect a sample properly, and how often to retest.
Plain-English notes on the treatment types that address each contaminant, so a result doesn't leave you stuck.
Questions
No, and we're careful to say so. This is a regional risk model. It tells you which contaminants are common in wells around your address and which to test for first. To learn what's actually in your water, you send a sample to a certified lab. The report tells you exactly which tests to order so you don't waste money on the wrong ones.
A full "everything" well panel from a lab can run several hundred dollars. Most of it isn't relevant to your area. This report narrows it to the handful of contaminants worth your money based on your local geology and land use, so a basic test kit covers what matters.
The risk picture is built from the USGS domestic-wells program, which has sampled tens of thousands of private wells across the country, and every limit comes from the EPA's drinking water standards. Both are cited in the report and on our sources page.
It can be. Wells are usually tested only for bacteria and nitrate at drilling. This report shows the other contaminants common in your area, arsenic, lead, radon and more, that a basic test skips, and tells you how often to retest for the ones you already checked.
A PDF report for one address, delivered in seconds after checkout and emailed to you. No account, one payment, $15.