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Private wells in New York
About 2.5 million New Yorkers get household water from their own wells. We found no statewide law requiring a well water test when a house is sold, but some counties and towns have one. Here's what the state recommends testing, where to find certified labs and well records, and free PFAS testing. Every fact has a source.
New York at a glance
- Who's on a well: USGS estimates about 2.5 million New Yorkers supplied their own household water in 2015, about 13% of the state's population.1
- Home sales: no statewide testing requirement found. The state disclosure form asks about the water source and testing. Westchester County and some Dutchess County towns require testing at sale.345
- NYSDOH's advice: test for bacteria every year, and every 3–5 years for lead, nitrate/nitrite, arsenic, sodium, iron/manganese, turbidity, pH, hardness and alkalinity, using an ELAP-certified lab.7
- Free PFAS testing in six counties (see below).10
County pages
- Well water testing in Dutchess County, NYDutchess County's countywide well testing results, town laws requiring well tests at sale, free PFAS testing, ELAP labs, well records and county contacts, with sources.
New York counties with the most people on household wells in USGS's 2015 estimates are Erie (about 265,000), Onondaga (about 249,000), Monroe (about 241,000), Dutchess (about 145,000), Oneida, Niagara and Orange (about 100,000 each).1 We're adding pages for these counties.
Buying a home with a well in New York
State disclosure. New York's Property Condition Disclosure Statement (Real Property Law § 462) asks the seller what the water source is (well, private or municipal) and "Has the water quality and/or flow rate been tested?"23 It doesn't require a test.
Local testing laws:
- Westchester County requires the seller to test a private well before a sale (Laws of Westchester County ch. 707). Tests include coliform/E. coli, nitrate, arsenic, lead, principal organic compounds, vinyl chloride and MTBE, plus pH, iron, manganese, sodium and chloride. A failed result doesn't block the sale.4
- Dutchess County: the county health department says the Towns of East Fishkill, Fishkill and Wappinger have local laws requiring well testing in real estate transactions.5
- Ask the county health department and town whether anything else applies.
Flow and storage. NYSDOH estimates peak household demand at about 5 gallons per minute and says wells yielding under 0.5 gpm aren't recommended. It publishes recommended storage for low-yield wells by number of bedrooms.8 See our homebuyer's guide.
Contaminants to know about
NYSDOH recommends extra tests depending on the region and nearby activities:9
- Regional: barium, fluoride, methane, radium, radon, uranium and others, depending on local geology.
- Near gas drilling: sodium, chloride, barium and strontium. A peer-reviewed study of 137 domestic wells over the Marcellus Shale in New York found methane over 10 mg/L in 5% of them.13
- Near fuel storage, industry or dumps: volatile organic compounds.
- Older homes or low pH: lead and copper.
In a USGS sample of 20 private wells in the upper Hudson River basin in 2012, 1 exceeded the arsenic standard and 12 exceeded a proposed radon level.12
Where to test
- Certified labs: search NYSDOH's Environmental Laboratory Approval Program (ELAP) directory. NYSDOH recommends an ELAP-certified lab.7
- County health departments can explain results. Some run their own programs.
Free and low-cost testing
- NYSDOH PFAS pilot: free private well PFAS testing for eligible homes in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester counties. If PFOA or PFOS is 10 ng/L or more, rebates are up to $5,000 for whole-house treatment, $1,000 for point-of-use, or $10,000 for connecting to public water. Check eligibility on the program page.10
Well records
- NYSDEC well completion reports: the DECinfo Locator has a "Water Wells" layer with completion reports. Questions go to DEC's Water Well Contractor Program at 877-472-2619 or [email protected].11
- Dutchess County has about 11,000 private well logs on file.6
Who to call
- County health departments: NYSDOH's county environmental health contacts.
- Cornell Cooperative Extension: local offices.
Guides for New York well owners
- Buying a home with a well
- Uranium and radon in well water
- How often to test a private well
- How to read your well water test results
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Dieter, C.A., and others, 2018, Estimated Use of Water in the United States County-Level Data for 2015 (ver. 2.0), U.S. Geological Survey data release. https://doi.org/10.5066/F7TB15V5 ↩↩
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New York Real Property Law § 462. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/462 ↩
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New York Department of State, "Property Condition Disclosure Statement" (DOS-1614-f, questions 34–35) (PDF). https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2025/05/dos-1614-f-property-condition-disclosure-statement%5F04.2025-eff.-07.2025.pdf ↩↩
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Westchester County Department of Health, "Private Well Water Test Law" Q&A (PDF). https://health.westchestercountyny.gov/images/stories/pdfs/PrivateWellWaterTestLawQA.pdf ↩↩
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Dutchess County Department of Behavioral & Community Health, "Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment." https://www.dutchessny.gov/Departments/DBCH/Water-Quality-Monitoring-Assessment.htm ↩↩
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Dutchess County, "Private Well Water Testing Initiative Phase II" (September 1, 2009). https://www.dutchessny.gov/45070.htm ↩
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New York State Department of Health, "Test Your Well: Protect Your Family's Water." https://health.ny.gov/publications/6628/ ↩↩
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New York State Department of Health, "Individual Water Supply Wells – Fact Sheet #2: Water Storage." https://health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/regulations/fact_sheets/fs2_water_storage.htm ↩
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New York State Department of Health, "Individual Water Supply Wells – Fact Sheet #3: Recommended Residential Water Quality Testing." https://health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/regulations/fact_sheets/fs3_water_quality.htm ↩
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New York State Department of Health, "Private Well PFAS Testing and Mitigation Rebate Pilot Program." https://health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/privatewellspilot/ ↩↩
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NYSDEC, "Water Well Contractor Program." https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/water/water-quantity/water-well-contractor-program ↩
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U.S. Geological Survey, 2014, Groundwater Quality in the upper Hudson River basin, New York, 2012, USGS Open-File Report 2014-1084. https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1084/ ↩
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Christian, K.M., Lautz, L.K., and others, 2016, "Methane occurrence is associated with sodium-rich valley waters in domestic wells overlying the Marcellus shale in New York State," Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015wr017805 ↩