How can I get my well water tested for PFAS chemicals?

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I live in South Dartmouth with farming neighbors. I have a well and I’ve been concerned for a while about the quality of the water.  Can you please tell me a reputable place to have my water tested? — Kai Bridge Armstrong

PFAS — a family of toxic so-called “forever chemicals” linked to birth defects, cancers, and immune-system dysfunction — are being found in drinking water supplies throughout Massachusetts.

Nine South Coast public water systems may have to treat their water for PFAS contamination and meet new federal drinking water standards. Yet for the thousands of private well owners in the region, the scope of the PFAS problem is less clear. 

In Rochester, Dartmouth and Westport, many homes rely on private wells. The state has done limited testing of private wells that show PFAS contamination is present in some homes in Rochester and Westport. But private wells are regulated by local boards of health. 

The boards of health in these towns recommend well owners test their water frequently. They require sellers to test their wells for potability and volatile organic compounds at the point of sale. Yet these towns’ well-testing regulations are old, so none of them require homeowners to test their wells for PFAS.

None of the towns have organized public programs to test for PFAS in private wells. None of the towns know the full extent of PFAS contamination in these wells, or where it is located.

So local property owners with wells are largely on their own when it comes to determining whether their well has PFAS. State and local public health authorities recommend well owners test for PFAS contamination, if they are concerned about potential exposures. 

Navigating the process of getting a private well tested for PFAS is not easy. It is not cheap. It also comes with the risk of having to pay for a clean-up or treatment, if PFAS levels exceed state drinking water standards. 

Here’s how to get a private well tested for PFAS. 

Getting your well tested

MassDEP recommends residents use a state-certified laboratory to have their well water tested.

These labs use Environmental Protection Agency-certified methodologies to test for PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — in drinking water. Well owners should inform the labs that they are interested in sampling their private well for PFAS. 

There are three state-certified laboratories in Massachusetts: in Mansfield, East Longmeadow, and Salem. There’s another one in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and an additional 15 nationwide. 

The Salem and New Hampshire laboratories offer home testing kits. Other labs direct the homeowner to purchase a testing kit online, or work through a smaller laboratory that functions as a liaison. The laboratories provide directions for collecting, storing, and shipping samples. 

The state says well owners should expect to pay between $250 to $500 per sample. It normally takes two to four weeks to obtain PFAS testing results. The laboratory will provide results to the private well owner, their local board of health, and MassDEP.

Next steps

The current drinking water standard for PFAS in Massachusetts is 20 parts per trillion, for a blend of six chemicals.

If testing shows levels of PFAS in one’s private well water are above the state drinking water standard, MassDEP may get involved. 

If levels of contaminants are high enough in private wells to constitute an “imminent hazard,” MassDEP must address the pollution on its own dime. Currently, the imminent hazard level for PFAS in private drinking water wells is 90 micrograms per liter. 

If a well owner in an owner-occupied home finds PFAS contamination in their water above state standards, but below the level of an “imminent hazard,” they have a few options to address it.  

One is to use an alternative source of water, like bottled water. Homeowners could also install a treatment system. 

Point-of-use treatment systems include countertop “pour-through” pitchers and under-sink units. Point-of-entry treatment systems are multi-component filtration systems for homes. 

Point-of-entry treatment systems are the most protective against PFAS, but costs range from $5,000 to $10,000, on average. Filters for both kinds of systems need to be periodically replaced and disposed of. 

To monitor the effectiveness of a treatment system, residents should collect water samples roughly every six months, state environmental regulators say. Any treatment device they use should be certified to meet “NSF/ANSI 53” or “NSF/ANSI 58” standards. 

For property owners who aren’t owner-occupied homeowners, it’s more complicated.

Under state law, if elevated levels of PFAS contamination come from a chemical or oil spill, the party responsible for the spill must clean up the contamination. However, it is often difficult to determine the source of PFAS discharges that contaminate drinking water wells, especially wells that tap bedrock aquifers. 

So if the party that caused the spill cannot be identified, state law holds property owners responsible for cleaning up the contamination. (Owner-occupied homes are exempt from this, as long as the owner did not cause or contribute to the chemical spill.) 

Regulations coming for private wells 

Local and statewide efforts are underway to develop regulations that protect private well owners from PFAS and other dangerous contaminants. 

Dartmouth and Westport are in the middle of comprehensive rewrites of private well regulations, which may include some focus on manmade compounds.

MassDEP is conducting a study on developing statewide private well regulations, after it received $100,000 to do so in the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget. 

The state legislature is considering whether to codify a set of drinking water regulations for private wells into state law.

Email climate and environment reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@newbedfordlight.org.