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Private wells in Georgia
About 1.5 million Georgians get household water from their own wells. We found no statewide requirement to test a well at sale, but lenders commonly require a test, and the University of Georgia's lab sells a package for that. What else to test depends on where the house is: uranium and radon in the north, arsenic in parts of the south. Every fact has a source.
Georgia at a glance
- Who's on a well: USGS estimates about 1.51 million Georgians supplied their own household water in 2015, about 15% of the state's population.1
- Home sales: no statewide testing requirement found. UGA's lab says its home loan closing test (lead, nitrate, nitrite and coliform/E. coli) covers tests "commonly required for home closings."3
- Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) advice: test for bacteria every year and run a chemical screen, which includes arsenic and lead, every three years.2
- Regional concerns: uranium and radon above the Fall Line; arsenic in parts of the Coastal Plain.45
County pages
Nothing published here yet.
Georgia counties with the most people on household wells in USGS's 2015 estimates are Cobb (about 91,000), Hall (about 39,000), Coweta, Barrow, Paulding, Henry, Walton and Columbia (about 25,000–35,000 each).1 We're adding pages for these counties.
Buying a home with a well in Georgia
What's required. We found no Georgia law requiring a well water test at sale. Lenders often require one. UGA's Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories (AESL) offers a "Home Loan Closing" test (W33B, $90) for lead, nitrate, nitrite and total coliform/E. coli.3
What to add. That package doesn't include arsenic, uranium or radon. Based on where the house is:
- North of the Fall Line (Piedmont and Blue Ridge): UGA Extension says every drilled well above the Fall Line should be tested for radon,5 and UGA's data found uranium over the drinking water standard only in Piedmont and Blue Ridge wells.4
- Coastal Plain: UGA found almost all arsenic exceedances in Coastal Plain wells.4 DPH links arsenic to the Gulf Trough area.2
Setbacks. Under Georgia's Water Well Standards Act, DPH says a well must be at least 10 feet from sewer lines, 50 feet from a septic tank, 100 feet from an absorption field, 150 feet from a cesspool, and 100 feet from animal enclosures.2
See our homebuyer's guide for contingencies, flow tests and negotiating.
Contaminants to know about
UGA analyzed well samples submitted to its lab through November 2011:4
| Contaminant | Samples over the drinking water standard | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Uranium (30 ppb) | 36 of 581 | All from the Piedmont and Blue Ridge |
| Arsenic (10 ppb) | 17 of 489 | 16 from the Coastal Plain |
Radon: UGA Extension says there's no federal drinking water limit for radon. The highest level it has found in a Georgia well was 140,000 pCi/L.5 For treatment, UGA estimates an installed aeration system at about $4,000 and a granular activated carbon system at about $1,000.5
Where to test
- UGA AESL analyzes well water through county Extension offices. Call 1-800-ASK-UGA1 to reach your local office.3 Other AESL tests include the W33C chemical screen DPH recommends.2
- Certified labs: Georgia EPD publishes lists of certified drinking water labs.2
Free and low-cost testing
We didn't find a free statewide program. The lowest-cost route is UGA AESL through your county Extension office; see AESL's water test prices.3
Well records
We didn't find a public statewide well log database for Georgia. DPH says well drillers must notify the county health department before drilling a new well, so the county environmental health office is the place to ask for records.2
Who to call
- Georgia DPH Environmental Health: (404) 657-2700.2 DPH lists public health districts.
- UGA Cooperative Extension: 1-800-ASK-UGA1 or county offices.3
Guides for Georgia well owners
- Buying a home with a well
- Uranium and radon in well water
- Arsenic in well water
- 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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Georgia Department of Public Health, "Well Water." https://dph.georgia.gov/environmental-health/well-water ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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University of Georgia Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories, "Water Analyses." https://aesl.ces.uga.edu/water.html ↩↩↩↩↩
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University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, "Uranium and arsenic in Georgia well waters" (impact brief). https://www.caes.uga.edu/research/impact/impact-brief/3383/uranium-and-arsenic-in-georgia-well-waters.html ↩↩↩↩
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UGA Extension, "Radon in Your Water," Circular 858-16. https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/C858-16/radon-in-your-water/ ↩↩↩↩