Rural Home Compass

Florida homeowner guide · Private well water

When should you test a private well in Florida?

Florida gives single-home well owners a clear annual bacteria-and-nitrate recommendation and a three-year lead interval, but construction authority and new-well testing can change by water management district, delegated county, and delineated contamination area. The testing plan must begin with the property’s permitting jurisdiction and contamination context.

Evidence reviewed 2026-09-14Rural Home Compass editorial desk13 official sources
Homeowner organizing a sealed well-water sample kit, records, and calendar beside a rural window
Use the calendar only after identifying the decision: new-well work, a purchase baseline, routine care, and post-event testing do not have the same purpose.
What this testing guide covers

This plan joins Florida’s annual bacteria/nitrate and three-year lead schedule to its five-district permitting model, county new-well exceptions, mandatory clearance inside delineated contamination areas, west-coast arsenic guidance, and active surveillance/restoration programs without expanding local or investigation-only rules statewide.

Four different decisions

Start with why you are testing.

01RHC planning advice

New well

Identify the permitting agency before choosing the test panel.

Florida well construction, repair, and abandonment are typically overseen by one of five water management districts, with authority delegated to named county or local agencies. Routine private homes have no single statewide sampling panel, but local rules can require new-well or repair testing; within a delineated contamination area, county health must sample and clear a permitted potable well.

  • Use the state permitting-agency locator to confirm the district or delegated office before drilling, repair, or sampling.
  • Ask that authority whether local rules or a delineated area control the collector, analytes, laboratory, and clearance letter.

Official guidancePrivate Well Water TestingWell Construction in FloridaLocal Water Well Permitting AgenciesWell Delineated Contamination Areas

02State recommendation

Buying a home

Test the current water without inventing a transfer mandate.

Florida states that a private-home sale does not itself trigger a statewide well-sampling requirement. DOH recommends coliform bacteria, nitrate, and lead for the transaction, while the contract, lender, insurer, local rule, or known contamination area may define a different accepted scope.

  • Request the construction permit, well log, prior tests, treatment history, and contamination notices from the seller and responsible permitting agency.
  • Confirm the receiving party’s analytes, certified laboratory, collector, and timing before drawing the sample.

Official guidancePrivate Well Water TestingWell Construction in FloridaBuying a Home with a Well

03State recommendation

Routine care

Track the annual group separately from lead.

Florida DOH strongly recommends testing a private well for bacteria and nitrate at least once each year and says most homeowners should test for lead every three years. These are health recommendations rather than routine-sampling mandates for every single-family private well.

  • Keep annual bacteria and nitrate results on one household date and the three-year lead result on another.
  • Ask the county health department whether local geology, land use, prior results, or an investigation calls for arsenic, radiological, PFAS, pesticide, VOC, or other testing.

Official guidancePrivate Well Water TestingWell Water Testing and Sample Requirements

04State recommendation

Flood or repair

Use alternate water until disinfection and testing resolve the event.

Florida advises treating flood-exposed well water as potentially contaminated, using bottled, boiled, or properly disinfected water, disinfecting the well after flooding or repairs, and using a certified laboratory for post-flood coliform testing. Chemical additions depend on the flood source or nearby release.

  • Avoid flooded electrical equipment and normal drinking use until the well is inspected, disinfected, flushed, and sampled safely.
  • Use certified coliform testing and ask the county health department whether the event supports nitrate, fuel, pesticide, PFAS, or other source-specific analyses.

Official guidanceNELAP Certified Laboratory SearchPrivate Well Water Storm Preparedness and ResponseWell Water Disinfection

New wells and regulated work

Build a purpose-specific starting panel.

Florida does not impose one statewide water-quality panel on every newly built single-home well. The permitting agency or county may add testing, and a new potable well in a delineated contamination area must follow the special sampling and clearance process. Use the panel below as a planning baseline only after confirming the property’s jurisdiction.

  • Total coliform bacteria
  • E. coli
  • Nitrate and nitrite
  • Lead
  • Jurisdiction-specific contaminants

The responsible professional and certified laboratory determine the accepted sample and report. Do not assume a retail package satisfies a regulatory purpose.

Official basis for the new-well panelPrivate Well Water TestingWell Construction in FloridaLocal Water Well Permitting AgenciesWell Delineated Contamination Areas

Existing wells

Florida publishes annual and three-year homeowner testing groups.

CadenceEvery three years for most homeowners
Starting testsLead

The three-year lead interval is a Florida DOH recommendation. Plumbing, a prior result, household vulnerability, or a transaction can justify a different timing or collector.

Official guidancePrivate Well Water Testing

The calendar is not the whole answer

When should the panel change?

A well in west-coast counties from Dixie south through Hillsborough, or the western half of Polk County

Florida DOH recommends arsenic testing in these identified areas where arsenic is frequently found. This is a regional recommendation, not a statement that every Florida well has the same risk.

Official guidanceArsenic in Well Water

Pregnancy, an infant, or another household member vulnerable to nitrate or waterborne illness

Florida identifies nitrate as an immediate concern for infants and pregnant people. Do not wait for the ordinary calendar when the baseline is missing or a contamination pathway is credible.

Official guidancePrivate Well Water Testing

A delineated contamination area, investigation notice, PFAS or EDB source, or another man-made contamination concern

Contact the county health department or DEP before ordering a broad panel. Florida’s surveillance and restoration programs are investigation- and eligibility-based; they do not mean every private well is enrolled or contaminated.

Official guidanceWell Delineated Contamination AreasWell Surveillance Program and Investigation DataWater Supply Restoration FundingPFOA and PFOS Sampling Efforts Associated with Public Well Systems

Local geology or a county recommendation for radiological contaminants

Florida says some counties may recommend naturally occurring radiological testing. Confirm the named analytes and laboratory scope locally rather than extending that advice statewide.

Official guidancePrivate Well Water Testing

Fuel, solvents, pesticides, industrial activity, septic failure, or a change in taste, odor, color, staining, or clarity

Use the source and observation to select targeted VOC, pesticide, metals, microbial, or other analyses. Sensory changes and a routine panel cannot establish that water is safe.

Official guidancePrivate Well Water TestingWell Water Disinfection

Laboratory and sampling

Confirm the route before collecting water.

  1. Florida BPHL currently analyzes private-well samples for coliforms and E. coli, not the full annual nitrate or broader chemistry group. Use the county health department or a NELAP-certified laboratory for analytes outside that service.

    Official guidanceWell Water Testing and Sample RequirementsNELAP Certified Laboratory Search

  2. For BPHL microbial testing, obtain the official kit and DH655 form, run the water at least five minutes, collect at least 100 mL without touching the stream or container interior, keep the sample below 10°C, and deliver it the same day.

    Official guidanceWell Water Testing and Sample Requirements

  3. Verify that the chosen laboratory is currently certified for every requested analyte and that the lender, agency, investigation, or other receiving party accepts its method, collector, chain of custody, and report.

    Official guidancePrivate Well Water TestingNELAP Certified Laboratory Search

Official records

Find the permitting agency that holds the property file.

Record holder

The responsible water management district, delegated county health department, or other local permitting agency holds the construction permit and well records for its jurisdiction.

Florida does not route every property through one statewide well-record database. Use the current agency locator: the Well Surveillance database is an investigation dataset, not a complete inventory, and a blank search is not proof that no well or record exists.

Find the official Florida well permitting agency ↗

Records and lookup guidanceWell Construction in FloridaLocal Water Well Permitting AgenciesWell Surveillance Program and Investigation Data

Look for
  • Construction, repair, or abandonment permit
  • Well completion or driller log
  • Well depth, casing, grouting, yield, and location
  • Clearance letters, laboratory reports, treatment, and contamination notices

Turn the schedule into questions

Build a starting water-test panel.

The recommender combines your current issue, purchase status, flood or repair history, nearby agriculture, vulnerable occupants, and ZIP-based Florida context. It does not replace the responsible professional or laboratory.

Open the Well Water Test Recommender →

Official sources

These sources were reviewed for this page on 2026-09-14. A build date does not refresh that review.

  1. Florida Department of Health: Private Well Water TestingReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
  2. Florida Department of Health Bureau of Public Health Laboratories: Well Water Testing and Sample RequirementsReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
  3. Florida Department of Environmental Protection: NELAP Certified Laboratory SearchReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
  4. Florida Department of Health: Well Construction in FloridaReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
  5. Florida Department of Health: Local Water Well Permitting AgenciesReviewed 2026-09-14 · Official source updated 2026-07-01 · Recheck every 90 days
  6. Florida Department of Health: Well Delineated Contamination AreasReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
  7. Florida Department of Health: Buying a Home with a WellReviewed 2026-09-14
  8. Florida Department of Health: Arsenic in Well WaterReviewed 2026-09-14
  9. Florida Department of Health: Private Well Water Storm Preparedness and ResponseReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
  10. Florida Department of Health: Well Water DisinfectionReviewed 2026-09-14
  11. Florida Department of Health: Well Surveillance Program and Investigation DataReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 30 days
  12. Florida Department of Environmental Protection: Water Supply Restoration FundingReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 30 days
  13. Florida Department of Environmental Protection: PFOA and PFOS Sampling Efforts Associated with Public Well SystemsReviewed 2026-09-14 · Official source updated 2025-07-09 · Recheck every 90 days