Private well guide

Well Water in Florida: Testing, Rules, Labs and Licensed Contractors

984,117 households in Florida get their water from a private well. Here is what the state requires, where to get it tested, and who is licensed to work on it.

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892Licensed contractorschecked against state records
63Certified labsfrom the state certified list
67Counties covered
984,117Households on wells12% of households (est.)

Close to a million Florida households drink from a private well, one of the four largest well populations in the country, and they sit on some of the most productive and most exposed groundwater in the country. Florida watches the drilling closely, tests the water in a few hundred contaminated pockets for free, and leaves the rest to the owner.

Who is in charge of a Florida well

The Department of Environmental Protection writes the rules, but it hands the day-to-day work to the five water management districts. The district (or, in counties like Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota, the county health department acting for it) issues the construction permit every new, repaired or abandoned well needs, licenses the contractor who drills it and keeps the completion report. The Department of Health sits on the other side: it certifies the labs, runs the county health departments that sell bacteria and nitrate tests, and samples private wells near known contamination through its Well Surveillance Program. If your well is in one of the delineated areas under Chapter 62-524, mostly old agricultural land with ethylene dibromide or industrial plumes, the health department is also the permitting office, and the water is sampled before you are allowed to use it.

What is required, and what is left to you

A permit before drilling, a licensed water well contractor, construction to the 62-532 standards (75 feet from a septic drainfield, grouted casing, disinfection) and a completion report. Outside the delineated areas nobody samples a new well, and no test is required when a home is sold. The Department of Health’s advice is a coliform bacteria and nitrate test every year and lead every three years, with arsenic, radionuclides and ethylene dibromide added where the county health department says the ground calls for it. After a hurricane or a flood that reached the wellhead, disinfect the well and test again before drinking from it.

At a glance

Water test for a new wellNot required statewide

No statewide water test for a new well. What is required is a well construction permit from your water management district (or the county health department where the district has delegated permitting) before drilling, a licensed water well contractor, construction to the Chapter 62-532 standards (setbacks from septic systems, grouted casing, disinfection) and a completion report from the driller. The exception is a delineated area under Chapter 62-524: where groundwater is known to be contaminated, a new drinking water well needs a permit through the county health department and the water is sampled and cleared before the well is used.

Water test when a home is soldNot required statewide

No statewide requirement. FHA, VA and USDA loans normally require a bacteria, nitrate and lead sample from a certified lab before closing, and buyers of homes in delineated contamination areas should ask the county health department for the well's file.

What the state recommends

The Florida Department of Health recommends a coliform bacteria and nitrate test at least once a year and a lead test every three years, plus arsenic, ethylene dibromide and naturally occurring radionuclides where the county health department advises it. Add hardness, iron, sulfide, sodium and chloride on a first test, and test again after flooding, a hurricane, repairs or any change in taste, color or smell.

Free or low-cost testingAvailable

The Department of Health's Well Surveillance Program samples private wells near known contamination sites free of charge and notifies owners of the results; if your well is inside a delineated area you may already be on the list. Elsewhere, county health departments give out bottles and instructions and test bacteria and nitrate for about $20 to $30 a sample, or $30 to $40 more if staff collect it.

What the water is like

Most of Florida draws from the Floridan aquifer, a thick limestone that gives plenty of hard water with a sulfur smell in many places. Shallow surficial wells in the Panhandle, the Suwannee valley and the southwest coast are softer but carry iron, tannins and, being close to the surface, the bacteria and nitrate that fail most tests; the nitrate problem is worst in the springs country along the Suwannee. The Biscayne aquifer under Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach is shallow and porous, which is why the region has so many delineated areas. Central Florida’s phosphate belt adds radium and radon, former citrus and cattle land adds arsenic and ethylene dibromide, and every coastal county has wells that turn salty as they are pumped. A broad first test sorts out which of these applies to you.

FDOH-certified labs and county health departments

Florida certifies environmental labs through the Department of Health’s Environmental Laboratory Certification Program, which is part of the national NELAP system. The labs below hold current drinking water certification for at least the tests a well owner needs. For the yearly bacteria and nitrate check the cheapest route is your county health department, which hands out bottles and sends the sample to a certified lab; for a first-time panel, arsenic, radium, EDB or PFAS you want one of the commercial labs, most of which mail bottles anywhere in the state.

63 certified labs

See all 63 certified labs in Florida

Licensed water well contractors

Florida licenses the individual, not the company, so every contractor below is a person holding a current state water well contractor license issued through one of the water management districts, shown under the business they work for where the state record names one. The license covers drilling, repair and abandonment of wells; pump work is done by the same companies but is not part of the state license. Licenses with a restriction on the state record are flagged on the profile.

892 licensed contractors

See all 892 licensed contractors in Florida

By county

Well use runs from a few percent in Miami-Dade, Pinellas and Broward to well over half of all homes in the rural north and the Panhandle interior, with Gilchrist, Union, Lafayette, Dixie and Suwannee counties more than 80% on wells. Each county page carries its well population, the nearest certified labs and the licensed contractors based there.

Florida well water questions

Do I need a permit to drill a well in Florida?

Yes, always. The permit comes from your water management district or, where the district has delegated the job, the county health department. Your licensed contractor normally pulls it. Drilling without one is a violation for the contractor and can leave you with a well the county will not accept.

Is a water test required when I sell my house?

No. Florida has no statewide requirement. Government-backed mortgages require a bacteria, nitrate and lead test before closing, so most sales include one anyway.

What is a delineated area?

A mapped area where groundwater is known to be contaminated, usually by ethylene dibromide from old farmland or by an industrial plume. Inside one, a new drinking water well needs a permit through the county health department, the water is tested before use, and the state may require a filter or a connection to public water instead. The Department of Health’s Well Surveillance Program tests existing wells in these areas for free.

How do I find the record for my well?

Well completion reports are filed with the water management district that permitted the well. Each district has an online permit search; start from the FDEP well permitting page, pick your district and search by address or parcel. Wells drilled before the 1980s often have no record.

Which lab should I use?

Any lab on the FDOH certified list with drinking water scope. Use the county health department for the yearly bacteria and nitrate check and a commercial lab for the wider panel.