Lab inventory · NC · Updated October 12, 2026

North Carolina Certified Well Water Labs

Direct answer

This is the North Carolina certified-lab path for private-well owners. Start with the county environmental health program or the NCSLPH certified-lab search. New wells must be tested within 30 days. Existing wells: coliform 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 North Carolina private-well owner uses the local health department, the State Laboratory of Public Health, or a state-certified commercial laboratory. Use the official certified-lab search. Do not treat this page as a live certificate.

This page is a directory of official paths, not a ranking and not medical advice. North Carolina private wells are the owner’s responsibility after the required new-well test. Since July 1, 2008, 15A NCAC 18A .3802 has required the local health department to collect samples from a newly constructed private drinking-water well within 30 days of the certificate of completion, or to ensure a certified laboratory collects and tests them, before the well is used as drinking water. 15A NCAC 18A .3803 requires total coliform (and fecal coliform or E. coli if coliform is present) plus this chemical panel: arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, fluoride, lead, iron, magnesium, manganese, mercury, nitrate, nitrite, selenium, silver, sodium, zinc, and pH. That is a new-well rule, not a yearly statute for every existing well. For existing wells, NCDHHS’s private-well testing FAQ (last modified July 29, 2025) recommends total and fecal coliform every year and a wellhead check; heavy metals, nitrates, nitrites, lead, and copper every two years; and pesticides and volatile organic compounds every five years, or yearly for a pesticide used nearby. Test also after repairs, after flooding, when taste, color, or odor changes, and when someone is pregnant or an infant is in the house — NCDHHS says do not drink nitrate-positive water or use it for baby formula, and boiling does not remove nitrate. EPA’s private-well minimum is coliform bacteria and nitrate/nitrite. CDC’s annual floor is total coliform, nitrates, total dissolved solids, and pH. NCDHHS’s FAQ states that many North Carolina wells have too much lead, arsenic, iron, manganese, low pH, and harmful bacteria. That is a statewide observation, not a map of one kitchen tap. NCDHHS’s arsenic information sheet says about 2¼ percent of tested wells exceeded EPA’s 10 ppb public-system MCL, and that Alexander, Anson, Dare, Montgomery, Stanly, and Union counties had 5 percent or more of tested wells over that line. NCDHHS publishes county contaminant maps from State Laboratory of Public Health private-well results (1998–2010). USGS’s Orange County arsenic modeling and NC DEQ’s Carolina terrane work place naturally occurring arsenic in Piedmont bedrock, including the Carolina slate belt / Carolina terrane. A county rate is still not a kitchen-tap result. NCDHHS’s uranium fact sheet names the Raleigh Belt, Carolina Slate Belt, and the Charlotte and Milton belts, with the Raleigh Belt as the highest published naturally occurring uranium water levels. A belt name is not a diagnosis. NC DEQ notes the Geological Survey maps rock units with potential for naturally occurring arsenic, radon, and manganese. NCDHHS’s radionuclides fact sheet suggests a gross-alpha, gross-beta, uranium, and radon screen if the well is in a susceptible area — that is not the new-well .3803 panel. PFAS is not on that statewide new-well list. NCDHHS’s PFAS page points Fayetteville-area and lower Cape Fear private-well owners at NCDEQ / Chemours well-testing programs and sends other owners to a PFAS testing factsheet plus the routine FAQ — not a yearly PFAS statute. Certification is analyte-specific under 10A NCAC 42D. A wastewater certificate is not a drinking-water coliform certificate. The State Laboratory of Public Health takes a private-well chemistry bottle only through the local health department. A commercial certified lab may take a residential sample — call first. This page does not reprint lab names, prices, fees, or phone numbers from the certified-lab search. Those change. 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, and PFAS is still not on the statewide new-well panel. Well Diagnosis does not run a kit program and does not certify laboratories.

News for NC 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 Michigan certified labs New York certified labs

Official search first

Open the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health certified-laboratory search. Select every contaminant you need and Search. Certification is analyte-specific. A chemistry field is not a coliform field. 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. The same search is the official path NCDHHS’s private-well FAQ links. Alternatively, ask the county environmental health program to collect and ship bottles to the State Laboratory of Public Health — NCDHHS says procedures, fees, and ordinances vary by county. For a newly constructed well, the local health department is required to collect or arrange the .3802 / .3803 samples within 30 days of the certificate of completion. Collect bacteria after disinfectant has been flushed; 15A NCAC 18A .3802 says the water shall be free of disinfectant before the bacteria sample, from a threadless tap that precedes treatment. Transport following the preservation and holding times in 40 CFR 141.21(f), 141.23, and 143.4, which that rule incorporates. The State Laboratory’s environmental-microbiology page says drinking-water coliform bottles must reach the laboratory and be processed within 30 hours or they are rejected; nitrate/nitrite must ship cold and analysis must begin within 48 hours. A commercial lab will have its own cutoff — ask. Use only the laboratory’s bottles. Accreditation lapses. A listing here is not a live certificate.

NCSLPH certified drinking-water laboratory search

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.

Raleigh · Statewide — submit through the local health department
Private wells: yes
North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health — environmental testing
Private-well chemistry and bacteria bottles go through the county or district environmental health program. The State Laboratory does not take a homeowner kitchen bottle mailed on its own.
NCDHHS’s private-well FAQ says newly constructed wells must be tested by the State Laboratory of Public Health (scheduled through the local health department) or a state-certified commercial laboratory within 30 days of completion. SLPH’s environmental-inorganic page says a private water system can obtain chemical analyses only if the sample is submitted through the local health department, with DHHS form #1441. The routine chemistry menu published there is alkalinity, arsenic, calcium, chloride, copper, hardness, lead, iron, magnesium, manganese, pH, fluoride, and zinc. Nitrate/nitrite uses a separate kit (form #4017), must ship cold, and analysis must begin within 48 hours. Coliform uses sterile SLPH bottles and must reach the laboratory and be processed within 30 hours. Results of SLPH private-well tests go back to the local health department; NCDHHS says a toxicologist health-risk evaluation follows.
This card is the official state-lab path, not a ranking. County procedures and fees change — this page does not reprint them. A commercial laboratory on the NCSLPH certified-lab search is an equal official path if it will take a residential sample and holds the drinking-water fields you need. Confirm current fields in that search before you pay. If coliform is present or nitrate is high, take the sheet to the local health department. This site is not medical advice.
Lab website · NC State Laboratory of Public Health: environmental testing

Local health department / SLPH path — not a Well Diagnosis kit

These numbers and links are published on NCDHHS private-well, SLPH, and Division of Public Health pages. They are the official collection path, not a shopping-cart product. NCDHHS says private-well procedures, fees, and ordinances vary from county to county — start with the county environmental health program. 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. NCDHHS also publishes a flood-prep flyer for wells.

Office	Counties served	Phone
County or district environmental health (private wells)	Statewide: new-well sampling, existing-well bottles, and SLPH shipping — find the county in the NCDHHS local health department directory	See dph.ncdhhs.gov/contact/LHD
NCDHHS Environmental Health county directory (June 2026)	On-site water protection / private-well program contacts by county	See EHS directory
NC On-Site Water Protection Branch	Statewide well permitting, construction, and .3800 sampling rules since July 1, 2008	See ehs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/oswp
NCDHHS Private Well and Health Program (OEE)	Health-risk questions about a result — published on NCDHHS uranium and radionuclides fact sheets	919-707-5900
NC State Laboratory of Public Health — customer service	Website and kit questions — not a substitute for the county on a present coliform	919-733-3937
NCDHHS Customer Service Center	Statewide department line published on NCDHHS private-well pages	1-800-662-7030

Contaminant and parent pages

Certified labs by state