Water testing
Testing well water
No utility monitors a private well. The owner's lab test is the only real information the well ever gets — everything else is guesswork.
What a qualifying well panel covers
- Total coliform and E. coli — the basic microbial screen
- Nitrates — especially near agriculture or septic systems
- Metals — iron, manganese, arsenic and lead where regionally relevant
- pH and hardness — they decide how any treatment must be configured
When to test
- Annually for bacteria and nitrates — the common recommendation from state health programs
- After flooding, nearby construction, or any work on the well itself
- Before buying equipment, and before trusting a symptom: odors and stains are possible signs, not diagnoses
Home strips can screen for hardness or iron between lab tests, but bacteria and health decisions need an accredited laboratory — a strip can't establish either.