Why Test Your Well Water?

Safe drinking water is important to your health. Testing your private well's

water quality on a regular basis is necessary to maintain a safe and reliable source of drinking water. As an individual water system owner, it is up to you to make sure that your water is safe to consume.

Unfortunately, there is no single test that tells you if water is safe. There are many waterborne contaminants that can cause illnesses if enough are present in your water. Unless a specific contamination problem is suspected, as in the case of a nearby chemical spill, most well owners rely on tests for coliform bacteria and nitrate/nitrite as a general indicator of the safety of their drinking water. Butler Soil and Water Conservation District, and partners, offer an annual testing event. During this event, residents to have their water tested for nitrates and bacteria. The number of free tests is limited due to funding. See below to find out more.

If you suspect your well is contaminated with other substances, you should test for those as well. However, the cost can rapidly grow, so try to identify potential sources. The Butler

The County Health Department can provide expertise on these matters, call (513) 863-1770 for assistance. Don't worry, they only make recommendations and cannot shut your well down if they find issues. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules that protect public drinking water systems do not apply to individual water systems, such as privately owned wells.

Laboratory analysis of your well water is one way to help assure a safe water supply. But water testing by itself is only part of the picture on the condition of your water system. A water test provides a snapshot of what the quality was like at the time the sample was collected. To get a more accurate picture of your well’s safety, it is important to combine periodic water testing with a careful inspection of your water system. Loose or missing well caps, holes or cracks in the well casing, or stagnant water ponding near a well are just a few of the problems that can lead to contamination.

Annual Well Water Testing Event

Butler Soil and Water Conservation District works with the Butler County Stream Team Lab at Miami University for an annual testing event. This testing bacteria and nitrate testing is provided for free thanks to funding from the Miami Conservancy District.

We have funding for 20 tests for Butler County residents, on a first-come, first-served basis.

To participate, please call the office at (513) 887-3720 to make an appointment. During this appointment, you will watch a 10-minute video on how to collect your sample, and you will receive the sanitized sampling equipment.

You will then collect your sample on the morning of Saturday, May 14 2022. Your sample must be dropped off in Oxford, Ohio (map will be provided during your appointment). This will be a drive thru drop off event and should take only a few minutes. Your results will be emailed or mailed to you the following week.