Last checked: October 22, 2026

Private wells in Indiana

A quarter of Indiana residents get household water from their own wells. We found no statewide requirement to test a well when a home is sold; the seller's disclosure form asks about the well's condition. Here's what's known about arsenic and other contaminants, what the state lab charges, and where to find well records. Every fact has a source.

Indiana at a glance

• Who's on a well: USGS estimates about 1.68 million Indiana residents supplied their own household water in 2015, about 25% of the state's population.¹
• Home sales: no statewide testing requirement found. The seller's disclosure form asks whether the well is defective.²
• Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) advice: test well water at least once a year.³ The IDOH lab suggests bacteria and nitrate every year, and fluoride, arsenic, lead and copper every five years.⁴
• Arsenic: in an Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) study of 1,162 samples from private homes and small non-community public wells, nearly 11% were over 10 µg/L, mostly north of the glacial boundary.⁶

County pages

• Well water testing in Elkhart County, INElkhart County's well permit and testing rules, naturally occurring arsenic, Indiana state lab fees, certified labs, well records and county contacts for homeowners and buyers, with sources.Last checked 2026-10-22

Indiana counties with the most people on household wells in USGS's 2015 estimates are Elkhart (about 92,000), Marion (about 81,000), St. Joseph (about 77,000), Hamilton, Hendricks, Allen, Kosciusko and Porter (about 51,000–63,000 each).¹ We're adding pages for these counties.

Buying a home with a well in Indiana

Disclosure. Indiana's Seller's Residential Real Estate Sales Disclosure (State Form 46234, under IC 32-21-5) has the seller mark the well as defective, not defective, or unknown, and asks about the water supply.² The form is a disclosure, not a test, and we found no statewide rule requiring a water test at sale.

What to do. Write a well inspection and water test contingency into your offer, and add arsenic to the test list. See our homebuyer's guide and ask the county health department about local rules. Elkhart County, for example, requires permits and testing for new wells (see our Elkhart page).⁹

Contaminants to know about

• Arsenic. IDOH says naturally occurring arsenic is found in glacial deposits across Indiana.³ IDEM's statewide groundwater monitoring network (private residential wells and non-community public wells, sampled since 2013) found arsenic in 44% of 1,162 samples and nearly 11% over 10 µg/L. Of the 127 samples over 10 µg/L, 119 were north of the Wisconsin glacial boundary.⁶ USGS estimates about 162,000 Indiana residents on private wells may have arsenic over 10 µg/L, the third-most of any state.⁷
• Bacteria and nitrate. IDOH recommends testing every year.⁴
• Methane and sulfate also occur in some Indiana groundwater, according to IDOH.³

Where to test

• Certified labs: IDOH's drinking water laboratory certification page lists certified labs.⁵
• IDOH Laboratories test well water for private citizens (see fees below).⁴

Free and low-cost testing

The IDOH lab's published fees for private citizens are $10 each for bacteria, nitrate and fluoride, and $20 each for arsenic, lead and copper, plus shipping. Check the IDOH well water testing page for how to order a kit.⁴

Some county health departments also offer testing. Ask yours.

Well records

• IDNR Water Well Record Database: more than 400,000 well records, searchable by location. Search the database.⁸

Who to call

• County health departments: IDOH's local health department map and contacts.
• Purdue Extension: IDOH points well owners to Purdue Extension as a resource.³ extension.purdue.edu

Guides for Indiana well owners

• Buying a home with a well
• Arsenic in well water
• How much does well water testing cost?
• How to read your well water test results