Lab inventory · MI · Updated October 12, 2026

Michigan Certified Well Water Labs

Direct answer

This is the Michigan certified-lab path for private-well owners. Start with EGLE’s Laboratory Certification Program lists, or order bottles from the EGLE Drinking Water Laboratory. Test coliform and nitrate every year. Bacteria or nitrate still goes to the local health department.

What to test
What to test	Why	EPA MCL / SMCL or guidance
Total coliform	CDC’s annual floor for a private well. A present result is a pathway warning, not a shopping trip.	Present/absent — any detected coliform is a positive until a clean retest CDC well-testing guidelines
Nitrate as N	Same yearly panel as coliform. A result at or above the public-system line goes to the health department.	10 mg/L as N (EPA public-system MCL) EPA National Primary Drinking Water Regulations
Arsenic	Invisible in the glass. Compare a certified-lab µg/L to the public-system MCL.	0.010 mg/L / 10 µg/L (EPA public-system MCL) EPA Arsenic Rule
Lead	Usually a plumbing number. First-draw versus flushed changes the reading.	0.015 mg/L public-system action level (15 ppb) EPA lead in drinking water

How a Michigan private-well owner finds an EGLE-certified drinking-water laboratory. Use the official certified-lab lists. Do not treat this page as a live certificate.

This page is a directory of official paths, not a ranking and not medical advice. Michigan private wells are the owner’s responsibility after the required construction test. EGLE’s “How to get your drinking water tested” page recommends inspecting the well and testing for coliform bacteria and nitrates every year as routine maintenance. EPA’s private-well minimum is coliform bacteria and nitrate/nitrite. CDC’s annual floor is total coliform, nitrates, total dissolved solids, and pH. MDHHS Care for Mi Drinking Water publishes a tighter private-well cadence: every year for coliform bacteria and E. coli, nitrate, and nitrite; every three to five years for arsenic and lead; and PFAS at least once. EGLE’s well-maintenance flyer also puts copper on that three-to-five-year metals list. Ask the local health department what else belongs on the order in your county. EGLE’s private-well testing page names additional standard water-quality concerns — fluoride, chloride, sulfate, sodium, hardness, iron, manganese, and other metals — without putting them on a statewide yearly statute. Test those when the local health department, a stain, or a taste change says so. EGLE recommends an arsenic test because Michigan groundwater has naturally occurring arsenic that you cannot see or taste. USGS studied geologic and hydrologic factors in eight southeastern Michigan counties — Genesee, Huron, Lapeer, Livingston, Sanilac, Shiawassee, Tuscola, and Washtenaw — plus a companion Oakland County map. That is a study area, not a map of every Michigan well. EGLE’s county Waterchem maps also show detections outside that southeast cluster. A county rate is not a kitchen-tap result. EGLE certifies laboratories under the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act (1976 PA 399). Fields are analyte-specific. A wastewater certificate is not a drinking-water coliform certificate. Many certified labs exist to serve public-system compliance and may refuse a kitchen bottle. Call first. This page does not reprint lab names, prices, or phone numbers from the certified-lab PDFs — those files change. Use EGLE’s Laboratory Certification Program lists, then call. If total coliform or E. coli is present, or nitrate is high, take the sheet to the local health department. For how EPA’s public-system PFAS numbers compare to a private-well sheet, use the PFAS in private well water guide — those MCLs do not bind a kitchen tap. Well Diagnosis does not run a kit program and does not certify laboratories.

News for MI well owners PFAS in private well water Coliform bacteria in well water How to read a well water lab report Well flooded? What to test and when Certified labs by state Wisconsin certified labs North Carolina certified labs New York certified labs

Official search first

Open EGLE’s Laboratory Certification Program page. Certification is under Act 399 and EPA for drinking-water analysis. The page publishes separate lists: chemistry, microbial, lead and copper, Cryptosporidium, radiological, out-of-state, Michigan PFAS, and out-of-state PFAS. Open the list that matches the analyte on your order — chemistry for nitrate, arsenic, metals, fluoride, sodium, chloride; microbial for total coliform and E. coli; lead and copper if that is the bottle; PFAS only if you are adding that panel. Confirm the drinking-water field, not a wastewater or non-potable row. Then call: ask whether they accept a private-well / residential sample, which bottles they issue, the hold time printed on the label, and whether a Thursday or Friday collection can arrive on time. EGLE’s “How to get your drinking water tested” page is the same find-a-lab path for a private laboratory. EGLE’s Request for Water Analysis form (EQP 2300) tells owners to return samples to the EGLE lab within 24 hours of collection where possible, on ice, and that coliform units 30, 32, and 33 must be at that laboratory by Friday 3:30 p.m. A commercial lab will have its own cutoff — ask. Collection date and time belong on the form; EGLE rejects bottles that miss the method hold time. Use only the laboratory’s bottles. Accreditation lapses. A listing here is not a live certificate.

EGLE Laboratory Certification Program — certified drinking-water laboratory lists

Labs that take private-well work

Listing here is not a certification. Phone the lab, ask for current drinking-water fields of accreditation, hold times, and whether they want a Friday bacteria sample. If the result is coliform or nitrate, take the sheet to your health department.

Lansing · Statewide mail-in / scheduled drop-off
Private wells: yes
EGLE Drinking Water Laboratory
3350 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Lansing, MI 48906
517-335-8184
EGLE’s Drinking Water Laboratory is the State of Michigan’s principal laboratory for Safe Drinking Water Act compliance testing and also takes private residential wells. The published path: call 517-335-8184 to request a kit, ship it to the house or schedule a pickup, collect in EGLE bottles only, and return in person by appointment or by USPS / UPS / FedEx. The lab’s public pages list microbiology (total coliform, E. coli), inorganics (nitrate and nitrite, ammonia, pH, sulfate), metals (lead, copper, arsenic), organics, and PFAS among the menus. Read the current Request for Water Analysis form and the testing-fee schedule on that site — this page does not reprint fees. EGLE does not interpret a homeowner result; the local health department does.
EGLE’s how-to page says allow 5–7 business days to process a kit order, plus shipping. EQP 2300 tells owners to return samples within 24 hours of collection where possible, with ice packs, and that coliform units 30, 32, and 33 must arrive by Friday 3:30 p.m. Hours published on that form: Monday–Thursday 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Friday 8:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Confirm the current form before you collect. A commercial EGLE-certified lab is an equal official path — use the certification lists, not this card, to pick one. If coliform is present or nitrate is high, take the sheet to the local health department. This site is not medical advice.
Lab website · EGLE: Drinking Water Laboratory

EGLE / local health department path — not a Well Diagnosis kit

These numbers are published on EGLE’s private-well testing page and the Drinking Water Laboratory pages. They are the official kit and public-health path, not a shopping-cart product. EGLE lists the county health departments below as having onsite testing. If you do not live near one of those counties, EGLE says request a test through the EGLE Laboratory or another certified lab from the certification lists. Find every other county health department in the MALPH directory. MDHHS publishes 800-648-6942 to speak with a toxicologist about a result. Hours change; call before you drive. After the sheet comes back, use the lab-report guide on this site. If coliform or nitrate fails, take the sheet to the local health department. If floodwater reached the wellhead, start with the flooded-well page — other water, electricity, disinfection, then a certified bacteria test.

Office	Counties served	Phone
EGLE Drinking Water Laboratory — kit ordering	Statewide mail-in kits and scheduled Lansing drop-off	517-335-8184
EGLE private-well testing (DWEHD)	Statewide well-testing questions · EGLE-DWEHD-WellTesting@Michigan.gov	989-619-4494
EGLE Laboratory Certification Program	Confirm a lab’s current drinking-water fields · EGLE-RRD-Lab-Cert-Program@Michigan.gov	See Laboratory Certification Program page
Washtenaw County Health Department	Onsite testing listed by EGLE · zeebcss@washtenaw.org	734-222-3800
Oakland County Health Department	Onsite testing listed by EGLE · health@oakgov.com	248-858-1280
Kalamazoo County Health Department	Onsite testing listed by EGLE	269-373-5200
Saginaw County Health Department	Onsite testing listed by EGLE	989-758-3825
Luce County Health Department	Onsite testing listed by EGLE	906-293-5107 ext 303
Mackinac County Health Department	Onsite testing listed by EGLE	906-643-1100 ext 233
Alger County Health Department	Onsite testing listed by EGLE	906-387-2297 ext 401
Schoolcraft County Health Department	Onsite testing listed by EGLE	906-341-6951 ext 110
White Water Associates Laboratory (Western Upper Peninsula)	Western U.P. path listed on EGLE’s private-well testing page — confirm current drinking-water fields on the certification list	906-822-7889
Local health department (all other counties)	Find the county office in the MALPH directory EGLE cites	See MALPH.org/Resources/Directory
MDHHS toxicologist line	Questions about a lab result — not a substitute for the local health department on a present coliform	800-648-6942

Contaminant and parent pages

Certified labs by state