Rural Home Compass

Georgia homeowner guide · Private well water

When should you test a private well in Georgia?

Georgia separates construction rules from water-quality recommendations for an ordinary private home. The homeowner testing path pairs an annual W35 bacterial test with the W33C chemical screen every three years, then adjusts for South Georgia arsenic, flooding, repairs, household vulnerability, and nearby contamination sources.

Evidence reviewed 2026-09-13Rural 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 distinguishes Georgia’s recommended W35 and W33C private-home tests from the W33 profile required for certain DPH-permitted public facilities, includes the South Georgia Gulf Trough arsenic signal, routes samples through UGA Extension, and sends record requests to the county environmental health office instead of an unverified statewide map.

Four different decisions

Start with why you are testing.

01State recommendation

New well

Separate required construction steps from recommended water testing.

A licensed Georgia water-well contractor must construct the well and file the required preconstruction notice with county health authorities. For an ordinary private residence, DPH recommends testing every new well with W35 bacterial indicators and the W33C private-well chemical screen; it does not describe those private-home profiles as a universal water-quality mandate.

  • Confirm the contractor, county notice, construction record, and local approval steps before drilling or altering the well.
  • Arrange the W35 and W33C sampling path through the county health office or UGA Extension and keep complete laboratory reports with the well record.

Official guidanceWell WaterRecommendations for Well Water TestingWater Well Standards

02Purchase-planning use

Buying a home

Build a current baseline instead of relying on a map pin or old report.

Georgia does not present a statewide private-home property-transfer testing mandate on these sources. For purchase planning, compare seller records with the property file held by county environmental health, then use current W35 and W33C results and any lender or local requirements to resolve the intended household use.

  • Ask the seller and county environmental health office for construction, repair, laboratory, treatment, and onsite-system records.
  • Confirm the lender, contract, inspector, and county scope before sampling; do not assume a generic consumer test satisfies a transaction condition.

Official guidanceRecommendations for Well Water TestingCounty Environmental Health Offices

03State recommendation

Routine care

Keep separate one-year and three-year testing dates.

Georgia DPH recommends annual bacterial testing for total and fecal coliform and a W33C private-well chemical screen every three years. W33C adds arsenic and lead to the constituent analysis used in the earlier profile; the W33 requirement for certain public facilities should not be applied to an ordinary private residence.

  • Track the annual W35 result separately from the three-year W33C report so neither interval disappears behind a single “last tested” date.
  • Use local conditions, prior results, nearby activities, and household vulnerability to decide whether the next panel needs additions.

Official guidanceWell WaterRecommendations for Well Water TestingTesting for Water Quality

04State recommendation

Flood or repair

Treat flooding or opened-well work as a new testing event.

Georgia flood guidance calls for inspection and disinfection before returning a flooded well to use, followed by bacterial sampling; its fact sheet describes retesting seven to ten days after disinfection. Repairs, a submerged wellhead, or a sudden water change also justify event-specific testing rather than relying on the routine calendar.

  • Use an alternate safe water source and avoid flooded electrical equipment until qualified inspection and disinfection are complete.
  • Confirm sample timing and the event-specific analytes with county environmental health or the laboratory before collecting.

Official guidanceWell WaterWhat to Do After Flood Water Reaches a WellGuidelines for Testing Well Water

New wells and regulated work

Start with the state-recommended panel.

Georgia DPH recommends testing all new private wells, using W35 for bacterial indicators and W33C for the private-well chemical screen. These are state recommendations for an ordinary private home; the separate W33 requirement applies to specified DPH-permitted public facilities.

  • Total coliform bacteria
  • E. coli
  • pH
  • Hardness
  • Alkalinity
  • Specific conductance
  • Nitrate
  • Nitrite
  • Fluoride
  • Chloride
  • Sulfate
  • Phosphate
  • Arsenic
  • Lead
  • Aluminum
  • Boron
  • Calcium
  • Chromium
  • Copper
  • Iron
  • Magnesium
  • Manganese
  • Molybdenum
  • Nickel
  • Potassium
  • Silica
  • Sodium
  • Zinc

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 panelWell WaterRecommendations for Well Water TestingWater Well Standards

Existing wells

Georgia has a state-specific recurring schedule.

CadenceEvery year
Starting testsW35 bacterial test · Total coliform bacteria · Fecal coliform or E. coli

Georgia DPH presents annual bacterial testing as a recommendation for private wells; permitted public-facility systems follow a separate compliance path.

Official guidanceWell WaterRecommendations for Well Water Testing

The calendar is not the whole answer

When should the panel change?

A well in South Georgia, especially near the Gulf Trough geologic structure

Keep arsenic in the chemical panel and discuss the result with DPH or the laboratory; the state cites naturally occurring arsenic findings in this region as a reason W33C includes arsenic.

Official guidanceWell WaterW33C arsenic and lead testing recommendations

Pregnancy, an infant, or another household member more vulnerable to waterborne contaminants

Do not wait for the ordinary calendar when the baseline is missing; include nitrate and microbial indicators and ask the health department whether local conditions justify other tests.

Official guidanceGuidelines for Testing Well Water

A PFAS investigation, notice, or credible source near the property

Georgia’s described statewide PFAS monitoring concerns public water systems, so it should not be treated as a private-well test result. Ask DPH or EPD whether private-well sampling is warranted and use a laboratory certified for PFAS when it is.

Official guidanceDrinking-water certified laboratory listsPFAS Information

Laboratory and sampling

Confirm the route before collecting water.

  1. Obtain W33C through a local UGA Extension office and confirm the current AESL submission form, fee, bottles, and requested analyses before collecting.

    Official guidanceWell WaterWater Analyses and current W33C sampling pathAgricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories forms

  2. For regulatory, lender, PFAS, or other purpose-specific work, verify that the selected Georgia-certified laboratory is approved for each analyte and that the receiving entity accepts its method and collector.

    Official guidanceDrinking-water certified laboratory lists

  3. Follow the laboratory’s container, tap preparation, flushing, preservation, chain-of-custody, and delivery instructions; microbial and chemical samples do not share one generic collection method.

    Official guidanceWater Quality and Common Treatments for Private Drinking Water SystemsAgricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories forms

Official records

Request the property file from county environmental health.

Record holder

Georgia county environmental health offices are the current official contact path for property-specific well and onsite-system records.

The previously cited WelSTROM manual now returns a missing-page response, and this review did not verify a stable replacement public map URL. Contact the county office and ask it to search its property file; do not treat the absence of an online result as proof that no record exists.

Open the official county environmental health directory ↗

Records and lookup guidanceCounty Environmental Health Offices

Look for
  • Well construction and preconstruction-notice records
  • Well location, depth, casing, and contractor information
  • W35, W33C, and other laboratory reports
  • Septic permit, layout, repair, and service records

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 Georgia 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 2026-09-13. A build date does not refresh that review.

  1. Georgia Department of Public Health: Well WaterReviewed 2026-09-13
  2. Georgia Department of Public Health: Recommendations for Well Water TestingReviewed 2026-09-13 · Official source updated 2023-07-01
  3. Georgia Department of Public Health: W33C arsenic and lead testing recommendationsReviewed 2026-09-13
  4. Georgia Environmental Protection Division: Water Well StandardsReviewed 2026-09-13 · Recheck every 90 days
  5. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension: Testing for Water QualityReviewed 2026-09-13
  6. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension: Water Quality and Common Treatments for Private Drinking Water SystemsReviewed 2026-09-13
  7. University of Georgia Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories: Water Analyses and current W33C sampling pathReviewed 2026-09-13 · Recheck every 90 days
  8. University of Georgia: Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories formsReviewed 2026-09-13 · Recheck every 90 days
  9. Georgia Environmental Protection Division: Drinking-water certified laboratory listsReviewed 2026-09-13 · Recheck every 90 days
  10. Georgia Department of Public Health: What to Do After Flood Water Reaches a WellReviewed 2026-09-13 · Recheck every 90 days
  11. Georgia Environmental Protection Division: PFAS InformationReviewed 2026-09-13 · Recheck every 90 days
  12. Georgia Department of Public Health: County Environmental Health OfficesReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
  13. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Guidelines for Testing Well WaterReviewed 2026-09-13 · Official source updated 2024-07-01