Rural Home CompassSouth Carolina homeowner guide · Private well water
When should you test a private well in South Carolina?
South Carolina requires a preconstruction notice and regulated construction for an individual residential well, but SCDES does not regulate routine private-well water quality. Homeowners must separate the construction file from voluntary state-lab testing, transaction-specific commercial testing, flood response, and the current PFAS assessment program.
This plan distinguishes the mandatory Notice of Intent and well record from voluntary water-quality testing, explains the SCDES coliform and metals/minerals services and their current limits, preserves the separate real-estate laboratory route, and identifies the active private-well PFAS assessment without making it a statewide screening mandate.
Four different decisions
Start with why you are testing.
New well
Complete the required notice, then build a separate testing baseline.
Before an individual residential well is constructed, the owner, agent, or driller must submit a Notice of Intent, and the driller gives SCDES 48 hours notice of the installation. Construction and disinfection are regulated; SCDES separately says permit applicants may receive a first coliform test at no extra charge, not that every private well has a universal chemistry mandate.
- Confirm the Notice of Intent, certified driller, inspection path, disinfection, and completed D-1903 Water Well Record.
- Arrange the first coliform sample and ask SCDES or a certified laboratory which site-specific chemical tests belong in the baseline.
Official guidancePrivate Drinking Water WellsRegulation 61-44: Individual Residential Well and Irrigation Well PermittingWell Water Quality Testing ServicesResidential Wells Forms and ePermitting
Buying a home
Use a transaction-appropriate commercial laboratory.
SCDES recommends that its residential-well testing service not be used for real-estate transactions and separately directs transaction testing to a commercial laboratory. The lender, contract, inspector, insurer, or other receiving party must define the accepted analytes, collector, laboratory scope, and timing.
- Obtain the D-1903 record, prior laboratory reports, treatment records, and the physical well inspection before sampling.
- Get the receiving party’s written panel and collection requirements, then verify each analyte with a currently certified commercial laboratory.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing ServicesSCDES Laboratories and private-well testingCommercial Environmental Laboratory MappingResidential Wells Forms and ePermitting
Routine care
Use a national annual baseline and South Carolina test routes.
SCDES says it does not regulate private-well water quality and does not publish one mandatory recurring panel for every home. CDC’s national baseline calls for annual total coliform, nitrate, total dissolved solids, and pH testing; South Carolina owners can use the state coliform kit and choose the metals/minerals or commercial-lab route when the site and prior results support it.
- Track annual microbial and nitrate results separately from less frequent or source-specific chemistry.
- Use previous results, nearby land use, household vulnerability, and SCDES or laboratory advice to select additions rather than ordering every available test.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing ServicesGuidelines for Testing Well Water
Flood or repair
Disinfect first and test on the state storm timeline.
If a South Carolina well floods, SCDES advises bottled or boiled water until the well has been disinfected and tested. The agency recommends sampling seven to ten days after disinfection and returning the sample to the regional office or health department on the same day it is collected.
- Avoid normal drinking and cooking use, inspect the well safely, and complete the state disinfection steps before the clearance sample.
- Collect with the supplied sterile container, return it the same day, and keep using alternate water until the result and agency guidance support normal use.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing ServicesPrivate Wells: What to Do Before and After Storms
New wells and regulated work
Build a purpose-specific starting panel.
South Carolina requires the Notice of Intent and compliant construction, not one universal private-home water-quality panel. SCDES makes a first coliform test available at no extra charge to residential-well permit applicants; the broader items below are a conservative starting panel that must be adjusted to the site and intended use.
- Total coliform bacteria
- E. coli if coliform is detected
- Nitrate and nitrite
- pH
- Lead
- Site-specific additions
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 Drinking Water WellsRegulation 61-44: Individual Residential Well and Irrigation Well PermittingWell Water Quality Testing ServicesResidential Wells Forms and ePermitting
Existing wells
South Carolina does not publish one mandatory routine testing calendar.
This cadence comes from CDC homeowner guidance, not a South Carolina routine-testing law. Use SCDES or a certified laboratory to match methods and additions to the property.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing ServicesGuidelines for Testing Well Water
These are part of the SCDES metals-and-minerals service, but the agency does not assign one statewide recurring interval for every private residence.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing Services
Return the state kit the day it is collected and continue alternate drinking water until the result and SCDES guidance resolve the event.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing ServicesPrivate Wells: What to Do Before and After Storms
The calendar is not the whole answer
When should the panel change?
A current PFAS concern, known source, or request for state assessment
SCDES currently accepts applications for private-well PFAS assessment and may provide sampling, recommendations, filtration, or public-water connection funding when PFAS is detected. Confirm that the program and property remain eligible before relying on it.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing Services
Fuel, solvents, pesticides, herbicides, industrial activity, or another credible chemical source
The SCDES residential service does not analyze VOCs, pesticides, herbicides, or other synthetic organics. Use a commercial laboratory and have the suspected source define the analytes instead of treating the metals panel as comprehensive.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing ServicesCommercial Environmental Laboratory Mapping
Pregnancy, an infant, gastrointestinal illness, or another vulnerable household member
Do not wait for a generic calendar when exposure is plausible. Give nitrate and microbial indicators priority and ask a health professional, SCDES, and the laboratory whether the household or site calls for additional tests.
Official guidanceGuidelines for Testing Well Water
A change in taste, odor, color, staining, clarity, corrosion, or treatment performance
Use the observation to narrow the investigation, but do not use appearance or odor as proof of safety. Select microbial, metals/minerals, or commercial chemical testing according to the credible cause.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing ServicesDrilling, Disinfecting, and Maintaining Your Well
Eligibility based on age, public assistance, or a groundwater investigation
SCDES currently describes annual fee relief for people over 65 or receiving listed public assistance and no fee for samples collected as part of an agency groundwater investigation. Confirm current eligibility before collecting.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing Services
Laboratory and sampling
Confirm the route before collecting water.
For an SCDES kit, use the supplied sterile bottle and instructions, collect on the accepted schedule, and return the sample as soon as possible on the same day; the agency currently accepts these samples Monday through Wednesday.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing ServicesPrivate Wells: What to Do Before and After Storms
SCDES currently states that its metals-and-minerals service will not accept samples from June 1 through October 1, 2026. Confirm current availability and turnaround before relying on the state laboratory.
Official guidanceWell Water Quality Testing ServicesSCDES Laboratories and private-well testing
For real-estate, VOC, pesticide, PFAS outside the state assessment, or other purpose-specific work, use a commercial laboratory and verify certification for each analyte and method; the CELMapp category listing does not prove analyte-level scope.
Official guidanceSCDES Laboratories and private-well testingCommercial Environmental Laboratory Mapping
Official records
Start with the state forms and the responsible regional office.
SCDES maintains the residential-well Notice of Intent and Water Well Record process; the owner and driller also receive copies of the completed D-1903 record.
The reviewed SCDES pages provide forms and ePermitting guidance, not a verified public address-search map for every existing well. Ask the responsible regional office to locate the property file, and do not treat a missing online result as proof that no record exists.
Open official residential-well forms and ePermitting guidance ↗Records and lookup guidancePrivate Drinking Water WellsResidential Wells Forms and ePermittingD-1903 Water Well Record
- Notice of Intent and permit number
- D-1903 Water Well Record
- Driller, depth, casing, yield, and completion information
- Inspection, disinfection, laboratory, repair, and abandonment 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 South Carolina 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.
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services: Private Drinking Water WellsReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services: Regulation 61-44: Individual Residential Well and Irrigation Well PermittingReviewed 2026-09-14
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services: Well Water Quality Testing ServicesReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 30 days
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services: SCDES Laboratories and private-well testingReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 30 days
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services: Commercial Environmental Laboratory MappingReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services: Private Wells: What to Do Before and After StormsReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services: Drilling, Disinfecting, and Maintaining Your WellReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services: Residential Wells Forms and ePermittingReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services: D-1903 Water Well RecordReviewed 2026-09-14 · Recheck every 90 days
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Guidelines for Testing Well WaterReviewed 2026-09-14 · Official source updated 2024-07-01