Lab news · NC · Updated October 9, 2026
North Carolina well-lab news
Direct answer
Dated notes from NCDHHS and the State Laboratory of Public Health for North Carolina well owners. New wells have a 30-day bacteria-plus-inorganic panel. Existing wells: coliform yearly; metals, nitrate, nitrite, lead, and copper every two years. Public-system MCLs do not bind a private well. Bacteria or nitrate still goes to the local health department.
| 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 |
Dated notes from EPA, NCDHHS, the State Laboratory of Public Health, and NC DEQ. Not headlines. Public-system MCLs do not bind a private well.
Dated notes from agency pages, not invented headlines. Public-system MCLs do not bind a private well unless the item is about a private-well statute. Bacteria or nitrate on a lab sheet still goes to the health department. This site is not medical advice.
18 May 2026
FederalEPA proposed keeping the PFOA and PFOS maximum contaminant levels at 4.0 ppt for public water systems, and letting requesting systems take until April 26, 2031 instead of April 26, 2029. The comment period closed July 20, 2026. EPA last updated that page July 23, 2026.
This is a proposal, not a final rule. It does not require a private-well owner to test or treat. Public-system MCLs do not bind a kitchen tap on a private well.
18 May 2026
FederalIn the same window, EPA separately proposed rescinding MCLs for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (GenX), and the Hazard Index mixture. That page was live when this note was written and is linked from the extension-rule page.
That action is still a proposal. Do not read it as those limits being gone. A private-well owner is not under that public-system rule either way.
9 October 2026
North CarolinaNCDHHS’s private-well testing FAQ (last modified July 29, 2025) still requires newly constructed wells to 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. For existing wells it still recommends total and fecal coliform every year; heavy metals, nitrates, nitrites, lead, and copper every two years; and pesticides and VOCs every five years. The same page says many North Carolina wells have too much lead, arsenic, iron, manganese, low pH, and harmful bacteria.
The 30-day new-well test is a rule (15A NCAC 18A .3802 / .3803). The yearly / two-year / five-year cadence is NCDHHS guidance for existing wells, not a kitchen-tap statute. Use a certified lab. If coliform or nitrate fails, take the sheet to the local health department.
NCDHHS: Private well water testing FAQs
15A NCAC 18A .3800 private drinking-water well sampling (PDF)
9 October 2026
North Carolina15A NCAC 18A .3803 still lists the new-well chemical panel: arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, fluoride, lead, iron, magnesium, manganese, mercury, nitrate, nitrite, selenium, silver, sodium, zinc, and pH, plus total coliform with fecal coliform or E. coli follow-up if coliform is present. SLPH’s environmental page still takes a private-well chemistry bottle only through the local health department. Drinking-water coliform must reach that laboratory and be processed within 30 hours; nitrate/nitrite must ship cold and begin analysis within 48 hours.
That panel is the new-well requirement. Existing wells follow the FAQ cadence. Ask the county environmental health program for this week’s bottles and cutoffs. Do not invent a fee from this note.
15A NCAC 18A .3803 sample analysis
9 October 2026
North CarolinaNCDHHS’s arsenic information sheet still states that about 2¼ percent of tested North Carolina 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. USGS’s Orange County groundwater-arsenic modeling and NC DEQ’s Carolina terrane work place naturally occurring arsenic in Piedmont bedrock, including the Carolina slate belt. NCDHHS’s uranium fact sheet names the Raleigh Belt, Carolina Slate Belt, and the Charlotte and Milton belts. PFAS remains off the statewide new-well panel; NCDHHS’s PFAS page points Fayetteville-area and lower Cape Fear wells at NCDEQ programs.
A county rate or a geologic belt is not a kitchen-tap result. Arsenic is already on the new-well panel and on NCDHHS’s two-year metals recommendation. Order a certified-lab test. Compare µg/L to 10 ppb as a public-system comparison line, not a private-well statute. Bacteria or nitrate still goes to the local health department.
NCDHHS: Arsenic information sheet (PDF)
USGS: Spatial modeling for groundwater arsenic levels in North Carolina
Contaminant and parent pages
Related
See also the North Carolina lab inventory, certified labs by state, and the homepage.