Private well guide

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

526,031 households in Texas 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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1,429Licensed contractorschecked against state records
54Certified labsfrom the state certified list
254Counties covered
526,031Households on wells5% of households (est.)

Roughly half a million Texas households, from the Hill Country to the Panhandle, get their water from a private well. The state licenses the people who drill and keeps a report on every well drilled since 2001, but it leaves the water itself to the owner: no permit from Austin, no required test, no inspection.

Who is in charge of a Texas well

Three bodies share the job. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation licenses water well drillers and pump installers, writes the construction standards in 16 TAC Chapter 76 and takes complaints. The Texas Water Development Board receives the State of Texas Well Report the driller must file within 60 days, so the record of your well, its depth, casing, yield and the water level, sits in the TWDB database rather than at the courthouse. Groundwater conservation districts, which now cover most of the state, are the only place a permit comes into it: many require new wells to be registered or permitted and set spacing from property lines, and a few require a well inspection at sale. In the counties with no district there is no local permit at all.

What is required, and what is left to you

The driller must be licensed, must build the well to the state standard (a cement seal, minimum distances from septic tanks, drain fields and property lines, and disinfection before the pump goes in) and must file the well report. That is the whole list. Texas does not test private well water and does not require a test when a home is sold. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s advice, which TCEQ echoes, is a bacteria and nitrate test every year and a broader first-time panel that covers arsenic, fluoride, salinity, hardness, iron and manganese. If you are buying a house on a well, the lender’s water test is usually the only one that will ever be done unless you keep it up.

At a glance

Water test for a new wellNot required statewide

No statewide test. The driller must hold a TDLR license, build the well to the 16 TAC Chapter 76 standards (setbacks from septic systems and property lines, cement seal, disinfection) and file a State of Texas Well Report within 60 days. Nobody samples the water unless you do. If your county has a groundwater conservation district, it may require the well to be registered or permitted before drilling; domestic wells on larger tracts are usually exempt from permitting but not from registration.

Water test when a home is soldNot required statewide

No statewide requirement. The seller's disclosure notice only says whether the water comes from a well. FHA, VA and USDA loans normally require a bacteria, nitrate and lead sample from an accredited lab before closing, and a few groundwater districts ask for a well inspection when a tract changes hands.

What the state recommends

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and TCEQ recommend a coliform bacteria test every year and a nitrate test every year, plus a first-time panel of arsenic, fluoride, total dissolved solids, hardness, iron, manganese, sulfate and pH. Add uranium and gross alpha in the Hill Country and the Panhandle, and PFAS near airfields and military bases. Test again after flooding, repairs or any change in taste, color or smell.

Free or low-cost testingAvailable

The Texas Well Owner Network (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension) runs low-cost screening days around the state, usually $10 to $15 a sample for bacteria, nitrate, arsenic and salinity, with results explained at a follow-up meeting. County and city health department labs listed below sell bacteria tests at cost. The DSHS laboratory in Austin also sells mail-in kits.

What the water is like

Texas sits on nine major aquifers and the water changes with each one. The Ogallala under the High Plains runs hard, with nitrate in farm country and arsenic and fluoride in its southern reach. The Edwards and Trinity limestones of the Hill Country give very hard water and, around the Llano Uplift, the Hickory sandstone carries radium and uranium high enough that some public systems treat for it. East Texas wells in the Carrizo-Wilcox sands are softer but often carry iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide. The Gulf Coast aquifer can bring arsenic and salinity, and shallow wells anywhere near a septic field or a feedlot are the ones that fail the bacteria and nitrate tests. Salinity and total dissolved solids climb across West and South Texas. A broad first test tells you which of these is your problem; the yearly bacteria and nitrate check tells you when something changes.

TCEQ-accredited labs and public health labs

Texas accredits environmental labs through the TCEQ Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP). Any lab on the drinking-water list below can run the tests a lender or a health department will accept. Commercial labs handle the full panel; the county and city public health labs and the river authority labs sell bacteria and nitrate tests at cost and are the cheapest route for the yearly check. The Texas Well Owner Network screening days are cheaper still, but they are screenings, not certified results.

54 certified labs

See all 54 certified labs in Texas

TDLR-licensed drillers and pump installers

Texas licenses the person, not the company. Every driller and pump installer below holds a current TDLR license, and where the licensee files well reports under a business name we show the business, with each licensed driller or installer named on the profile. The profiles also show how many well reports the licensee has filed with the Texas Water Development Board since 2016 and which counties they work in, which is a fair guide to who is active near you. Pump installers, who are licensed separately and do not file well reports, appear with their pump endorsements.

1429 licensed contractors

See all 1,429 licensed contractors in Texas

By county

Well use runs from almost nobody in Ellis, Cooke and Foard counties to about half of all homes in Blanco, Bandera, Madison and Kendall and nearly every household in Glasscock. Each county page carries its well population, the nearest accredited labs and the licensed drillers and pump installers based there.

Texas well water questions

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

Not from the state. If your county has a groundwater conservation district, check with it: most require registration and many require a permit, though a household well on a larger tract is often exempt from the permit. The driller still has to be TDLR-licensed and file the well report either way.

Is a water test required when I sell my house?

No. Texas has no statewide requirement. Government-backed mortgages require a bacteria, nitrate and lead test before closing, so most sales include one anyway, and a few groundwater districts require a well inspection at transfer.

How do I find the record for my well?

Search the TWDB Groundwater Data Viewer by address or county for the Submitted Drillers Report. Wells drilled since 2001 usually have one; older wells may be in the TWDB Groundwater Database or have no record at all.

Which lab should I use?

Any lab on the TCEQ drinking-water accreditation list. For the yearly bacteria and nitrate check, a county or city public health lab or a river authority lab is the cheapest; for a first-time panel, arsenic, uranium or PFAS, use one of the commercial labs listed below.