How to Test Your Drinking Water | Vermont Department of Health

How to Test Your Drinking Water | Vermont Department of Health CLOSE Translations for you How to Test Your Drinking Water Drinking Water Private Drinking Water Public Drinking Water How to Test Your Drinking Water How to Treat Your Drinking Water How to Disinfect Your Drinking Water New Drilled Well Testing: What You Need to Know Drought and Your Well After a Flood: Private Drinking Water Guidance Legionella in Building Water Systems Test your drinking water regularly. It is important to regularly test your private well or spring for contaminants to make sure your water is safe to drink. If you get a water bill, you are on public water. The Health Department recommends testing your water for lead. Learn about testing recommendations for public water How to Test Your Private Drinking Water The Health Department recommends testing your water with the Homeowner Testing Package every five years, and for bacteria every year. This package includes tests for bacteria, inorganic chemicals and gross alpha radiation, which are the most common drinking water contaminants in Vermont. It's important to test your water if you are buying or selling a property, or if you are a landlord who rents property with a private water source. Find information for real estate transactions and rental properties Follow the steps below to test your water and find out if you need to treat it. Translated information in: العربية (Arabic) မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) دری (Dari) Français (French) Kirundi नेपाली (Nepali) پښتو (Pashto) Soomaali (Somali) Español (Spanish) Important Links Information for Real Estate Transactions and Rental Properties New Drilled Well Testing: What You Need to Know How to Treat Your Drinking Water 1. Order test kits You can order the Homeowner Testing Package from the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory or another certified drinking water lab . You can also order test kits for newly drilled wells and individual contaminants. How to order from the Health Department Lab Order the Homeowner Testing Package through the Lab's online webstore or by calling 802-338-4724 . This package includes: Bacteria (Kit A) $14 – test for bacteria every year Inorganic chemicals (Kit C) $100 – test every five years Gross alpha radiation (Kit RA) $45 – test every five years If you divide this cost over five years, it equals $3.60 per month. Order the Bundled Kit: Homeowner Testing Package Do you have a new well or spring? Vermont law requires different steps for new groundwater sources for single-family residences. Learn more about new drilled well testing before ordering test kits. Order the Bundled Kit: New Well or Spring Testing Package You can also order tests for individual contaminants , such as lead, through the webstore's a la carte menu. Order a la carte 2. Collect your water samples Your test kit will come with instructions on how to collect water samples. Follow the instructions closely to make sure the lab will accept your sample. Collect samples from the faucet you most often drink and cook from, usually your kitchen sink. If you ordered the Homeowner Testing Package from the Health Department Lab, you will receive four plastic sample bottles: 1 medium (250-milliliter) bottle - do not use the water in your home for at least 8 hours before taking this sample. We recommend collecting the sample first thing in the morning before you use any water for the day. 1 small (100-milliliter) bottle - this bottle has a preservative in it, so do not rinse it out. We recommend sanitizing your faucet with rubbing alcohol before collecting this sample. 2 large (1-liter and 500-milliliter) bottles Watch the video below for an example of how to collect your samples. The instructions for the test kit you ordered may be different, so be sure to follow the instructions that came with your kit. 3. Return your samples Plan to drop off or ship your water samples the same day you collect them. Some samples may need to remain cold for testing. If you ordered tests through the Health Department Lab, you can get your samples to the Lab in three ways: Drop them off in person at the Health Department Lab. The Lab's physical address is: 359 South Park Drive, Colchester VT Hours are Monday - Thursday, 7:45 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and Fridays 7:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. The Lab is closed on state holidays Drop them off in person at an Office of Local Health. Find a list of Local Health Offices that participate in the Drinking Water Drop-Off Program. These offices accept samples Monday through Thursday except for state holidays and the day before a state holiday. Mail or ship your samples to the Lab Make sure your shipment will get to the Lab within the timeframe in your sample instructions. Mail samples to: USPS: P.O. Box 1125, Burlington, VT 05402-1125 FedEx or UPS: 359 South Park Drive, Colchester, VT 05446 Learn more about preparing and dropping off samples If you ordered tests through another certified drinking water lab, follow their instructions to return your samples. 4. Get your test results If you ordered from the Health Department Lab, your water test results will be emailed or mailed to you as soon as they are ready. You may get results at different times depending on the type of tests you ordered. If you ordered the Bundled Kit: Homeowner Testing Package or the Bundled Kit: New Well Testing Package you will get four sample bottles and four sets of results. Bacteria results are typically sent within 1-2 business days. First draw lead results are typically sent within 3 weeks. Gross alpha results are typically sent within 2 weeks. Inorganic chemicals, including uranium, fluoride and nitrate results are sent within 2-4 weeks. If you provided an email address, your results will be emailed to you as soon as they are ready. This means you could receive multiple emails. Your results will be mailed to you if that's what you requested or if you did not provide an email address. Mailed results are sent after all the tests are complete, which is about 3-4 weeks after the Lab receives your samples. Questions about the tests you ordered or about an unaccepted sample? If you ordered from the Health Department Lab, call 802-338-4724 or 800-660-9997 (toll-free in Vermont). If you ordered kits from a different lab, contact them directly. 5. Read and review your test results Bacteria (Kit A) You will see a result for both Total Coliform and E. coli in bacteria test results. If either Total Coliform or E. coli are detected, you have bacteria in your system and should disinfect your well or spring Inorganic Chemicals (Kit C or Kit ID for new wells) This kit tests for multiple chemicals. If a chemical is at a level of concern, you will see "Above Threshold" written in the far-right column. See an example of inorganic chemical results Gross Alpha Radiation (Kit RA) Gross alpha radiation measures the radioactivity of water caused by naturally occurring elements like uranium and radium. Results under 5 picoCuries per liter (pCi/L) are not considered a health risk. Check the uranium level measured in Kit C if your gross alpha result is above 5 pCi/L. Questions about your results? Call the Private Drinking Water Program at 802-489-7339 or email [email protected] 6. Understand what's in your water Be sure to wait until you get all your test results back so you can fully understand your water quality and overall health risks. If you ordered the bundled testing packages, you could receive test results over several weeks. Some of the individual results need to be read with other results to fully understand what’s happening with your water quality. For example, if you ordered the Homeowner Testing Package from the Health Department Lab, you will receive two results for lead. The first result is a “first draw” and the second is a “flush." You will get the first draw result first, and the flush result will come up to 2 weeks later with the inorganic chemical results. Lead is detected more frequently in first draw samples than in flush water samples. To fully understand the risks and best treatment options for gross alpha radiation, you will need to wait until you get the uranium level with the inorganic chemical results, which can be 1-2 weeks after you get the gross alpha radiation results. 7. Determine if you need to treat and retest your water Use the table below to help you decide if you need to treat your water. Treating your water means lowering the levels of contaminants in your water, or removing them. Treat your water if any of your results are above the level listed in the middle column. If you ordered tests from the Health Department Lab, those results will be in bold . Learn more by clicking the name of each contaminant in the table below. If you install a treatment system, it is important to test your water again . Retesting your water for the contaminant (or contaminants) will make sure the treatment is working. You do not need to buy the bundled Homeowner Testing Package again. You can order individual tests. To retest your water for individual contaminants, you can order a la carte tests through the Health Department Lab’s online webstore. Individual tests range in price from $10 to $25. If you can't order online, call 802-338-4724 or 800-660-9997 (toll-free in Vermont). You can use the Water Treatment Table to decide the best treatment for your water system based on which contaminants are in your water. Learn how to treat your water Questions about treatment options? Private Drinking Water Contaminants Contaminant When to Test Treatment Recommended if Above this Level Why You Should Test Possible Causes Coliform Bacteria (Kit A) Every year Any amount detected Stomachaches, diarrhea, GI (gastrointestinal) diseases Surface water intrusion, septic leachate, agriculture runoff Arsenic (Kit C) Every five years 0.001 mg/L Increases risk of bladder, lung or skin cancer Naturally occurring in some bedrock and soils in Vermont Chloride (Kit C) Every five years 250 mg/L Chloride may indicate other contaminants are present in the water Septic leachate, road salt Copper (flush) (Kit C) Every five years 1.3 mg/L Stomachaches, vomiting, diarrhea, liver damage in young children Leaches from plumbing and fixtures due to corrosive water Fluoride (Kit C) Every five years 0.7 mg/L Fluoride levels above 4 mg/L can cause bone disease. Fluoride levels above 2 mg/L can cause staining or pitting of teeth. Optimal fluoride levels of 0.7 mg/L prevent tooth decay. Naturally occurring in some bedrock and soils in Vermont Hardness (Kit C) Every five years No health risk, but you may choose to treat above 150 mg/L for aesthetic reasons Causes scale buildup in pipes and fixtures, gray staining of washed clothes Naturally occurring in some bedrock and soils in Vermont Iron (Kit C) Every five years No health risk, but you may choose to treat above 0.30 mg/L to improve taste and appearance of water Unpleasant odors, stains and tastes Naturally occurring in some bedrock and soils in Vermont Lead (first draw and flush) (Kit C) Every five years 0.001 mg/L Damage to brain, kidneys and nervous system Leaches from plumbing and fixtures due to corrosive water Manganese (Kit C) Every five years 0.300 mg/L Damage to the nervous system (memory, attention and motor skills) when consumed over a long period of time, infants may develop learning and behavior problems Naturally occurring in some bedrock and soils in Vermont Nitrate/Nitrite (Kit C) Every five years. If present above 5 mg/L: Every 3-6 months Nitrate: 10.0 mg/L Nitrite: 1.0 mg/L Methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) in infants Fertilized agricultural fields, septic leachate, compost piles Sodium (Kit C) Every five years 250 mg/L, or 20 mg/L for people on low-sodium diets Sodium may indicate other contaminants are present in the water, can be harmful to those on limited sodium diets Septic leachate, road salt, water softeners Gross Alpha Radiation (Kit RA) Every five years Use the adjusted gross alpha calculator for any amount above 5 pCi/L for further evaluation Cancer risk Naturally occurring in some bedrock and soils in Vermont Uranium (Kit C) Every five years 0.020 mg/L Kidney damage Naturally occurring in some bedrock and soils in Vermont Other Concerns for Private Drinking Water Other concerns for your private drinking water system may be: Hydrogen Sulfide Parasites PFAS (including PFOA) Radon Organic Chemicals (volatile, synthetic and pesticides) These contaminants are not part of the Health Department's recommended Homeowner Testing Package. However, you may want to test for these contaminants depending on the land use around your well or spring or other potential sources of contamination. Click on each contaminant above to learn more about the source, health risks, and testing and treatment options. Information for Real Estate Transactions and Rental Properties Real Estate Transactions If you are selling your home and you are not on a public water system, then you are required to give the buyer a copy of Well Water Testing: A Home Buyer’s Guide When buying or selling a home with a private drinking water source, it is important to have the water tested. As a home buyer, you will know your water will be safe to drink, and as a seller, you can avoid delays and problems with selling your home. The best time to have the water tested is before a home goes on the market. It will give you a heads up on potential issues with the water, and allows time to treat the water before the sale. Real estate agents can help buyers and sellers get the information they need to make sure a home’s private water source is safe. If results show the water is free from contaminants, that can be an added bonus for sellers and peace of mind for the buyers. Some mortgage companies require a basic potability test that only tests for bacteria. These tests do not meet the Health Department’s definition of potability. Certain types of mortgages such as a VA or FHA loan will have stricter requirements on testing. Please contact your mortgage company to ask about the tests they require. To meet the requirements of the Health Department’s definition of potable water, test the water using all three test kits in the Homeowner Testing Package . It can take a few weeks to get test results back. If any result comes back high, find out what treatment options are available Rental Properties Under Vermont’s Rental Housing Health Code , drinking water provided to tenants must be free from harmful levels of contaminants. If you are the landlord of a rental unit that uses a private well or spring, the only way to know your tenants' water is free of contaminants is to test it. If you are a landlord: Test the private water source provided to your tenants following the Health Department’s recommended private drinking water testing schedule. Test each private water source with the Homeowner's Testing Package every five years and for bacteria every year. If you own a property with multiple units supplied by the same well or spring, test for first draw lead at the main faucet used for drinking water in each unit. The Homeowner's Testing Package includes one first draw lead test, so you may need to order additional lead tests separately. If levels of contaminants are found above Health Department drinking water standards, find out what treatment options are available The Health Department recommends contacting a water treatment specialist for up-to-date treatment information and estimates. You may qualify for financial assistance to fix health and safety issues, including water treatment: Champlain Housing Trust Landlord Loans are available in Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties. These loans are available for owner-occupied buildings up to 4 units, single family rentals, duplexes and accessory dwelling units. NeighborWorks of Western Vermont offers Rental Repair Loans to landlords of 1 to 4 rental unit properties in Addison, Bennington and Rutland counties. Order test kits If you are a renter: Ask your landlord to show you results of a recent water test completed at the Department of Health Laboratory or another certified drinking water lab. If your landlord has not tested your water recently, ask them to test at one of these labs. If you are unable to ask your landlord to test your water, contact the Division of Fire Safety for help. More Information Download a copy of the Health Department's private drinking water testing recommendations See a complete list of tests available at the Health Department Laboratory Translated Information Testing Drinking Water from Your Private Well: العربية (Arabic) မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) دری (Dari) Français (French) Kirundi नेपाली (Nepali) پښتو (Pashto) Soomaali (Somali) Español (Spanish) Well Water Testing: A Home Buyer's Guide: العربية (Arabic) မြန်မာစာ (Burmese) دری (Dari) Français (French) Kirundi नेपाली (Nepali) پښتو (Pashto) Soomaali (Somali) Español (Spanish) Private Drinking Water Program Phone: 802-489-7339 Email: [email protected] Topics: Chemical Contaminants Drinking Water March 11, 2026