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Well Diagnosis

Guide

Well water test kits

A test kit is a screening tool. A certified laboratory report is a decision document. They are not interchangeable.

EPA’s private-well pages and CDC’s well-testing guidance say to test every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids, and pH. Those four items are not what most $20 strip cards measure well.

What a kit is for

Use a kit when you need a same-day clue before you spend money on the wrong tank: iron and hardness pads, pH paper, a field H2S check, a TDS meter. USGS Circular 1332 is the backdrop — aesthetic iron and hardness are common in domestic wells.

What a kit cannot do

Do not use a store kit as your annual bacteria or nitrate record. Coliform and E. coli need a sterile bottle, a hold time, and a state-certified laboratory. Nitrate is a health-based primary standard (10 mg/L as N). If either fails, contact the health department. This site is not medical advice.

State inventories now on this site: Pennsylvania, Florida, and Maine, and Iowa.

Sources

  1. U.S. EPA, Private Wells. Protect Your Home’s Water.
  2. CDC. Guidelines for Testing Well Water.
  3. U.S. Geological Survey. Circular 1332.