Updated May 2026 · Wicked Pure Water Co
If you own a home in New Hampshire, there is close to a one-in-two chance your drinking water comes from a private well rather than a municipal system. That well is yours to manage. Unlike city water, no utility tests it, treats it, or sends you an annual report. Whether the water coming out of your tap is safe is a question only a test can answer, and in New Hampshire the answer is often more complicated than homeowners expect.
Private wells are not regulated the way city water is
Public water systems in New Hampshire are tested constantly and have to meet state and federal standards for dozens of contaminants. Private wells fall outside that system entirely. The Environmental Protection Agency does not regulate them, and New Hampshire does not require routine testing for an existing home. The responsibility sits with the homeowner. That is not a reason to panic, but it is a reason to test, because a well that was clean when the house was built can change over the years as groundwater conditions shift.
What is actually in New Hampshire well water
New Hampshire's geology and history give its groundwater a specific set of recurring problems. The most common ones we find on private wells across the state are:
- Arsenic, a naturally occurring element in the state's granite bedrock that has no taste, color, or smell
- Radon, a radioactive gas that moves from bedrock into well water and then into household air
- Uranium, which often appears alongside arsenic in deeper bedrock wells
- Iron and manganese, which stain fixtures and laundry and give water a metallic taste
- Hardness from calcium and magnesium, which drives scale on fixtures and inside water heaters
- Bacteria, particularly in shallower or surface-influenced wells
- PFAS, a family of synthetic forever chemicals tied to specific industrial and military sites
The contaminants you cannot taste, smell, or see
Homeowners often assume that water which looks clear and tastes fine is safe. The hard truth in New Hampshire is that the most serious contaminants give no warning at all. Arsenic, radon, uranium, and PFAS are all invisible and tasteless at the levels that matter for health. A glass of water can be well above the state limit for arsenic and look exactly like a glass of water that is perfectly clean. The only way to know the difference is a laboratory-grade test.
How often should you test a New Hampshire well
New Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services recommends testing private well water on a regular schedule rather than only when something seems wrong. A reasonable rule for most homes is a basic test every year for bacteria and a broader test for arsenic, radon, and the other bedrock contaminants every three to five years. You should also test whenever you buy a home, after any work on the well, or if you notice a sudden change in taste, smell, or color. Homes with infants, pregnant residents, or anyone with a compromised immune system have a stronger reason to test sooner rather than later.
What a water test actually involves
A proper test does not mean dipping a strip into a glass. It means pulling samples correctly, measuring against the EPA and New Hampshire thresholds, and interpreting the results in plain language. Our free on-site test takes about twenty minutes at your kitchen sink and covers the contaminants that actually matter in New Hampshire water. If something comes back above a threshold, we explain what it means and what a fix would involve. If your water is clean, we tell you that too, and recommend when to test next.
Safe well water in New Hampshire is absolutely achievable. Thousands of homes across the state run on treated well water that is as good as or better than anything from a municipal tap. The first step is never a system. It is a test, so you know exactly what you are dealing with.