Your county health department
North Carolina doesn't run a statewide free testing program that we know of. Some county health departments test wells or sell kits, so call yours first.
North Carolina's private well pageArsenic in North Carolina well water, by county
Arsenic is worth checking in 1 of the 7 North Carolina counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. A county's share tells you how likely a problem is nearby. Only a test of your own well tells you what's in it.
How North Carolina compares with the rest of the country
Across North Carolina, 3 of 233 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (3 of 233). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. That's less often than in the country as a whole. Counties still differ, so check yours below.
Why it matters: Drinking it for years raises the risk of skin, bladder and lung cancer.
Arsenic dissolves out of certain rocks and old sediments, so it can be high even where nobody has polluted anything.
Arsenic in tested wells, county by county
Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L. Counties need 10 or more tested wells to be listed. Widespread means 15% or more, worth checking 5 to 15%, rare under 5%.
| County | Wells tested | Wells over the limit | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockingham County | 19 | Worth checking | |
| Iredell County | 23 | Rare | |
| Wake County | 19 | Rare | |
| Buncombe County | 17 | Rare | |
| Randolph County | 13 | Rare | |
| Onslow County | 10 | Rare | |
| Pender County | 10 | Rare |
* Likely overstated. These shares come from a narrow set of wells, so they probably run high for the county as a whole:
- Rockingham County: All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey between 2002 and 2005 in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.
46 more North Carolina counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for arsenic, too few to rate.
Download this table (CSV) · Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0
Where to get your well tested for arsenic in North Carolina
A lab North Carolina certifies
Ask for arsenic by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by North CarolinaA mail-in kit
Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include arsenic.
Compare kitsKeep reading about wells in North Carolina
- Well water testing in North Carolina: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
- Arsenic in well water: where it comes from, what it does and how to remove it
- Nitrate in North Carolina wells, by county
- Uranium in North Carolina wells, by county
- Manganese in North Carolina wells, by county
- Lead in North Carolina wells, by county
Questions people ask about arsenic in North Carolina
Is there arsenic in North Carolina well water?
Arsenic is worth checking in 1 of the 7 North Carolina counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. Across North Carolina, 3 of 233 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (3 of 233). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. That's less often than in the country as a whole. Counties still differ, so check yours below.
Where can I get my well tested for arsenic in North Carolina?
Use a lab certified by North Carolina for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes arsenic from a certified lab. Some county health departments test wells too, so call yours first.
See North Carolina's list of certified labs, or compare mail-in kits.
Where these numbers come from
- Lab tests: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA), well samples since 2000. A well counts as over if any of its tests was over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L. Wells tested for studies and monitoring, not a random sample of homes.
- Likely overstated: our own check of who tested the wells, when and where. How we check.
- State programs and links: Department of Health and Human Services.