Rural Home CompassOhio homeowner guide · Private well water
When should you test a private well in Ohio?
Ohio uses two different testing paths. A new or regulated private-water system is inspected and sampled through the local board of health, while an ordinary household’s continuing test schedule is owner-directed. The property’s well log, recent work, nearby land use, water changes, and local health-district instructions determine what comes next.
This plan separates Ohio’s required new-or-altered-system sample for nitrate, E. coli, and a coliform count from voluntary routine household testing. It also explains the local board-of-health approval path and the limits of the ODNR map and address records.
Four different decisions
Start with why you are testing.
New well or alteration
Complete the local board-of-health inspection and sample.
After permitted construction or alteration work is complete, Ohio requires the owner or agent to contact the board of health for inspection and required sampling. The permit sample covers nitrate, E. coli, and a total-coliform count; the board collects it after the work records are received and the system is found to comply with the chapter.
- Confirm the inspection and sampling appointment with the local board of health before treating the system as complete.
- Keep the permit, completion form, well log, inspection findings, written laboratory result, and board approval together.
Official guidanceChapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsRule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standards
Buying a home
Pair the construction record with a current water baseline.
An ODNR well log can describe construction and geology, but it does not establish current water quality. Ohio’s private-water rules place property-specific administration with the local board of health; purchase contracts, lenders, and local procedures may add requirements that are not a universal statewide transfer test.
- Search the ODNR database by address and by non-map fields, then ask the local board of health for permits, samples, approvals, alterations, and unresolved orders.
- Confirm contract, lender, and local requirements before arranging an approved-laboratory baseline for the household’s intended use.
Official guidanceChapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsSection 3701.344: Rules for private water systemsOhio Water Well Database
Routine care
Do not mistake a construction sample for a lifetime schedule.
Ohio’s annual sampling rule excludes ordinary one-, two-, and three-family dwellings. For those homes, EPA and CDC homeowner guidance recommends annual total-coliform, nitrate, total-dissolved-solids, and pH testing, with the local health department identifying additional area-specific concerns.
- Keep an annual household baseline while labeling it as health guidance rather than an Ohio legal mandate for an ordinary home.
- Use the local health district, nearby activities, past results, plumbing, and household vulnerability to choose targeted additions.
Official guidanceChapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsProtect Your Home's WaterGuidelines for Testing Well Water
Flood or repair
Reset the testing decision after an exposure or repair.
Federal private-well guidance calls for testing after flooding, land disturbance, a nearby spill, or repair or replacement of well components. Ohio separately requires disinfection and sampling in regulated construction or alteration paths, so the local board of health should determine whether the event also falls inside a permit process.
- Use an alternate safe source if floodwater or a chemical release may have entered the well, and contact the local health district before choosing a test.
- Ask whether the work triggers an Ohio permit, inspection, disinfection, or board-collected sample instead of relying on a routine homeowner kit.
Official guidanceChapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsRule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standardsProtect Your Home's Water
New wells and regulated work
The required starting tests depend on the work.
Ohio identifies a specific starting panel for newly constructed private drinking-water wells. This list belongs to the construction process and is not the routine homeowner schedule.
- Nitrate
- E. coli
- Total coliform count
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 panelChapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsRule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standards
Existing wells
Separate Ohio approval sampling from national routine guidance.
This is the Ohio approval sample collected through the board-of-health process, not the recurring schedule for an ordinary household.
Official guidanceChapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsRule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standards
EPA and CDC recommend this baseline. Ohio does not impose the separate annual rule on ordinary one-, two-, and three-family dwellings.
Official guidanceChapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsProtect Your Home's WaterGuidelines for Testing Well Water
The local health department should help translate nearby agriculture, fuel, waste, industry, geology, or past results into named analytes.
Official guidanceProtect Your Home's WaterGuidelines for Testing Well Water
The calendar is not the whole answer
When should the panel change?
Pregnancy, nursing, a young child, or an older adult in the home
Review the schedule with the local health district because federal guidance identifies these households as potentially needing more frequent testing.
Official guidanceProtect Your Home's Water
Flooding, land disturbance, waste disposal, or a nearby fuel or chemical spill
Use safe alternate water when contamination is plausible and ask the local health district which microbial or chemical analyses fit the event.
Official guidanceProtect Your Home's WaterGuidelines for Testing Well Water
Well construction, casing work, deepening, treatment changes, or other regulated alteration
Confirm permit status with the board of health; regulated work can trigger inspection, disinfection, and an approved sample rather than an ordinary homeowner collection.
Official guidanceChapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsRule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standards
A change in taste, odor, color, clarity, or treatment performance
Test promptly and select analytes from the observed change and local evidence; appearance cannot establish that the water is safe.
Official guidanceProtect Your Home's WaterGuidelines for Testing Well Water
A previous nitrate prescreen at or above 5 mg/L
Ohio’s sampling rule requires a sample to be submitted to an approved laboratory for nitrate analysis when the authorized prescreen reaches this level.
Official guidanceRule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standards
Laboratory and sampling
Confirm the route before collecting water.
For samples governed by Ohio’s private-water rules, use a laboratory approved for the requested microbiological contaminants and primary drinking-water standards, or another laboratory approved by the Ohio Department of Health.
Official guidanceRule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standards
Use the sterile container supplied by the laboratory. Do not rinse it or touch the inside; bacteria samples must be cooled and delivered within the laboratory’s holding time, and nitrate samples must be stabilized or delivered on time.
Official guidanceRule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standards
For a permit or approval purpose, confirm the collector, sample point, laboratory scope, timing, and reporting route with the local board of health before collecting. A retail kit should not be assumed to satisfy the rule.
Official guidanceChapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsRule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standardsSection 3701.344: Rules for private water systems
Official records
Start with the official well-record system.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources for well logs, plus the city or general health-district board for permits, samples, inspections, and approvals.
ODNR provides address, custom, and map searches. Its map layer warns that fewer than 55 percent of records have coordinates, so a blank map result does not prove there is no well; use address and custom searches and confirm with the local board of health.
Open the official well-record entry point ↗Records and lookup guidanceSection 3701.344: Rules for private water systemsOhio Water Well DatabaseOhio water-well map layer description and coverage limits
- ODNR well log number and construction record
- Private-water permit and completion or alteration form
- Inspection, sample, remediation, and approval records
- Sealing report for any unused or replaced well
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 Ohio 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.
- Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules: Chapter 3701-28: Private Water SystemsReviewed 2026-09-13
- Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules: Rule 3701-28-04: Inspection, sample collection, analysis, and standardsReviewed 2026-09-13 · Official source updated 2025-06-25
- Ohio Revised Code: Section 3701.344: Rules for private water systemsReviewed 2026-09-13
- Ohio Department of Natural Resources: Ohio Water Well DatabaseReviewed 2026-09-13
- Ohio Department of Natural Resources: Ohio water-well map layer description and coverage limitsReviewed 2026-09-13 · Recheck every 90 days
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Protect Your Home's WaterReviewed 2026-09-13
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Guidelines for Testing Well WaterReviewed 2026-09-13