WATER WELL INFORMATION
Water Quality Testing of Your Well
Safe drinking water for you family and friends relies on frequent testing
Because no federal, state, or local entity ensures the safety of private well water, the responsibility for monitoring it falls to the well owner. The District recommends annual sampling of the well with a local lab to monitor the quality of your water. Baseline water quality results are important to have on record in the event a water quality event occurs.
Water Quality Testing Basics
You will need to find out the quality of the water in your aquifer. Some information about the aquifer water may be readily available from public utilities and water companies. They are required by federal and state law to report water chemistry to consumers.
(TGR link for Trinity Aquifer water quality.)
Contact the water utility for a copy of the water quality report for information about local water quality issues. However, water quality information on exempt household wells is not recorded or made available through any public agency unless the well owner has given permission.
Have your water tested whenever:
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You suspect it may be contaminated. If you notice a change in color, taste, or odor of the water.
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The pump or well has undergone maintenance recently.
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People who drink the water have experienced a change in health, especially stomach-related illnesses.
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The well water is cloudy or smelly, or tastes bad, it probably does not conform to drinking water quality standards.
If you live near oil and gas fields, you should have the water screened for non-refined hydrocarbons in addition to annual testing for coliform bacteria, nitrate, and total dissolved solids.
Maintain Water Quality Testing Records
To protect your water supply, you need to keep records on each well, manage potential sources of contamination, and test your water at least once a year.
Record the location of all wells on your property, and keep a file on each well. Each well will have a unique identification number assigned by the driller. Use this number to track historical information, which may be available from the following sources:
Texas Water Development Board Groundwater Database:
Licensed water well drillers must submit reports to the state for each well they drill. More than 130,000 wells have been recorded in the TWDB groundwater database since 2001. For more recently drilled wells, your state well report may be found here: TWDB Water Data Interactive Map
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Water Well Report Viewer:
For historic well records, TCEQ Water Well Viewer
For assistance, call 512-239-4600 or email gpat@tceq.texas.gov
Texas Alliance for Groundwater Districts: http://www.texasgroundwater.org/
Your groundwater may be managed and protected locally through a groundwater conservation district. Groundwater districts are governed under chapters 35 and 36 of the Texas Water Code.
Texas Water Development Board: TWDB Groundwater Conservation Districts webpage
How to Contact a Certified Water Testing Lab
Following well disinfection, water should be sampled and tested. Contact a certified water testing lab for instructions and a test kit. To find a lab, visit the link below for an easy to use map of TCEQ certified labs:
Further Reading
Texas A& M Agrilife Extension: "Drinking Water Standards"
Texas Cooperative Extension: "Drinking Water Problems: Iron and Manganese"
Texas A&M Agrilife Extension: "What to do About Coliform Bacteria in Well Water"
National Ground Water Association: "PFAs and Private Well Owners"