Water Quality

Our Water Quality Program oversees the construction, repair, and abandonment of water supply wells in Guilford County and provides services to the public, well contractors, and pump installers.

• Water Supply Well Sampling:  We sample water from all new and repaired wells and analyze them for potentially harmful bacteria and other contaminants.
• Well Permits: All well installations and well repairs require a well permit application that is obtained from the Division of Public Health. For wells that plan to use more than 10,000 gallons per day, a separate permitting process is required.
• Siting and Inspection of Wells: We work with the public and well contractors to establish the location of the well through site evaluations and perform inspections throughout construction.
• Well Repair: We provide on-site consultation to determine well deficiencies and oversee the repair process.
• Well Abandonment: We regulate the closing of unused or abandoned water supplies to prevent water contamination and eliminate safety hazards.

A fee is charged for some services.

Water Sampling Information

Water quality offers several types of well water testing for private water wells. These tests include:

• Bacteria
• Inorganic
• Petroleum
• Pesticides
• Nitrates/nitrites

Staff will come to your home, inspect the well, and collect the requested sample(s).

Bacteriological results are tested locally at our Public Health Laboratory and will generally be available toward the end of the week in which the sample is collected.  All other water samples will be sent to the State of North Carolina’s Public Health, Raleigh laboratory for analysis. Results for those samples are usually ready in approximately four (4) to six (6) weeks depending on the number of samples being processed by state lab officials. We are not able to accept water samples brought to our office.

The fee structure is as follows:

• Trip charge – $65
• Bacteria – $50
• Inorganic Full Panel (Included Nitrate/Nitrite) – $70
• Petroleum – $75
• Pesticides – $75

If you want to have all parameters tested at one time, the fee is $335. Fees are calculated at trip fee plus lab fee. For example if you wanted to test for bacteria and inorganic full panel the fee would be $185.00 ($65 + $50 + $70).