Private well guide

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

237,796 households in Tennessee 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.

Find a certified labLicensed contractorsPick my county
236Licensed contractorschecked against state records
15Certified labsfrom the state certified list
95Counties covered
237,796Households on wells9% of households (est.)

About 240,000 Tennessee households, roughly one in eleven, drink from a private well or spring. That is a smaller share than most Southern states because the cities and the utility districts reach so far into the countryside, but in the Plateau and mountain counties, in Fayette County outside Memphis and along the Tennessee River, well water is still the rule. Tennessee licenses the driller, keeps the best well database in the region and then leaves the water itself to you.

Who is in charge of a Tennessee well

The Division of Water Resources at TDEC runs the water well program under the Water Well Act: it licenses water well drillers, pump installers and water treatment installers as individuals, writes the construction standards in rule 0400-45-09 and receives a driller’s report for every well, which it publishes on its water well map viewer with the depth, yield, static level and casing. There is no state permit for a household well and no state inspection or water test; a few counties, Shelby County above all, permit wells through the county health department. Water quality falls to the Department of Health, whose Nashville and Knoxville laboratories test private well and spring samples brought in through the county health departments, and to the TDEC laboratory certification program, which approves the commercial labs.

What is required, and what is left to you

A licensed driller, construction to the state standard, and the well report. After that, nothing: Tennessee does not require a test of private well water when the well is new or when the house is sold. TDEC’s own advice is a bacteria test every year, and a chemistry check for nitrate, hardness, iron, manganese, lead and copper at least once. In East Tennessee add radon and uranium; in the karst country of Middle and East Tennessee, retest after heavy rain.

At a glance

Water test for a new wellNot required statewide

No statewide water test and no state permit for a household well. The Water Well Act requires the well to be drilled by a TDEC-licensed water well driller to the rule 0400-45-09 construction standards (steel casing at least 19 ft deep or into bedrock, grouted, ending 6 in above grade with a sanitary seal; 50 ft from septic tanks and drainfields, 10 ft from property lines), and the driller must file a well report with TDEC within 30 days. A few counties permit wells through the county health department, Shelby County most notably, and lenders usually want a bacteria test on a new well.

Water test when a home is soldNot required statewide

No statewide requirement. The Tennessee Residential Property Condition Disclosure asks only whether the water supply is a well and whether the seller knows of problems. FHA, VA and USDA loans normally require a bacteria, nitrate and lead sample from a certified lab before closing.

What the state recommends

TDEC and the Department of Health recommend testing a private well for coliform bacteria every year, and for nitrate, pH, hardness, iron, manganese, lead and copper at least once and again every few years. Add radon and uranium in East Tennessee bedrock wells, arsenic on the Highland Rim and in West Tennessee sands, pesticides in shallow Coastal Plain wells, and test again after flooding, well work or a change in taste, color or smell. Karst wells in Middle and East Tennessee should be retested after heavy rain, when bacteria and turbidity spike.

Free or low-cost testingAvailable

No statewide free program. The Department of Health laboratory in Nashville (and the Knoxville regional laboratory for East Tennessee) tests private well and spring samples for bacteria, nitrate and metals for a modest fee; bottles and forms come through the county health department or the laboratory (615-262-6337). Some county health departments and UT Extension offices run periodic screening days.

What the water is like

Tennessee’s three grand divisions have three different kinds of groundwater. East Tennessee wells drill into folded limestone, dolomite and shale, and in the Blue Ridge into crystalline rock: depths of 200 to 600 feet, yields that vary from one hillside to the next, hard water with sulfur in the shale, and radon and uranium in the crystalline rock and black shale. Middle Tennessee sits on karst limestone, where wells are shallower (100 to 300 feet) but sinkholes and caves carry surface water straight into the aquifer, so bacteria and cloudy water after rain are the everyday problems and every well should be tested yearly. The Cumberland Plateau between them gives soft, acidic water from sandstone that corrodes copper plumbing. West Tennessee is a different world: unconsolidated sands and gravels, shallow wells of 60 to 200 feet with iron, manganese and, in farm country, nitrate and pesticides, and beneath them the Memphis Sand, one of the finest aquifers in the country, which supplies both the city of Memphis and thousands of deeper private wells in the surrounding counties.

Certified labs and the state health laboratory

TDEC certifies drinking water laboratories for public water system compliance, and the commercial list is short: a dozen in-state labs, most of them in the Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis and Jackson areas, several of which run the full homeowner panel and mail bottles anywhere in the state. The Department of Health’s Nashville laboratory, with a regional lab in Knoxville, still tests private well and spring samples for bacteria, nitrate and metals through the county health departments, which is the cheapest route for the yearly check. Every lab below comes from the TDEC certified lists dated March 2026 or from the Department of Health, with the tests each is certified to run.

15 certified labs

Eurofins Memphis

TN, NC certified

Memphis, TN · Commercial

  • Arsenic
  • Coliform Bacteria
  • Full Homeowner Panel
  • Hardness
  • Iron and Manganese
  • Lead
  • Nitrate / Nitrite
  • Pesticides
  • Volatile Organic Compounds

See all 15 certified labs in Tennessee

TDEC-licensed drillers and pump installers

Tennessee licenses the individual, not the company. Every profile below is built from TDEC’s daily report of licensed drillers and installers, grouped under the business the state record names, with each licensee and license class shown: water well driller, pump installer, water treatment installer, geothermal driller. Where the state’s well database has reports under a licensee’s number, the profile shows how many wells the business has filed since 2016, the counties it works in and the typical depth it drills to.

236 licensed contractors

See all 236 licensed contractors in Tennessee

By county

Well use runs from almost nobody in Davidson, Shelby and Grundy counties to half of homes in Fayette, Meigs, Chester and Sequatchie and two thirds in Bledsoe, Polk and Hancock. Each county page carries its well population, the typical depth of wells reported to TDEC since 2000, the nearest certified labs and the licensed contractors based there.

Tennessee well water questions

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

Not from the state. Your driller must hold a TDEC water well driller license and must file a well report within 30 days of finishing. Shelby County and a few others require a well permit through the county health department, so check locally before drilling.

Is a water test required when I sell my house?

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

How do I find the record for my well?

Search TDEC’s water well map viewer by address or county. Reports go back to the 1960s and show the driller, depth, casing, yield and static water level; TDEC will pull the original driller’s report at 888-891-8332.

Where do I get my well water tested?

For the yearly bacteria and nitrate check, ask your county health department for the Department of Health laboratory’s bottles and forms. For metals, VOCs, radon or a lender’s full panel, use one of the TDEC-certified commercial labs below; most will mail a kit.

Why does my well water turn cloudy after it rains?

Because it is a karst well. In limestone country, sinkholes and fractures deliver rainwater to the aquifer within hours, carrying soil and bacteria with it. Have the well tested for coliform after the next storm and consider a UV disinfection unit if it fails.