Well Water Notebook
Information only, not medical advice. We never say whether your water is safe to drink. Ask a state-certified lab or your local health department. Disclaimer

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Well water testing in Union County, North Carolina

Union County sits largely on the Carolina Slate Belt, an area of North Carolina where arsenic in wells is more common. Here's what the data show, who tests well water locally, and how often the county recommends testing, with a source for every fact.

This page can't tell you whether your water is safe to drink. Arsenic usually can't be seen, smelled or tasted, so testing is the only way to know if it's there.2 For help, contact Union County Environmental Health (below).

How many people here use a private well

USGS estimates that about 49,000 people in Union County supplied their own household water in 2015, about 22% of the county's population.1 The county itself says approximately 25% of its population relies on groundwater for drinking water.2

Arsenic and the Carolina Slate Belt

Union County notes that drinking inorganic arsenic over many years increases the risk of skin, bladder, kidney, liver and lung cancer.2

Local health department

Union County Environmental Health2

Contact Details
Address 500 N. Main Street, Suite 47, Monroe, NC 28112
Phone 704-283-3553
Email unioncountyeh@unioncountync.gov
Sampling Well water sample request form

The county says well water sampling and testing is offered through Union County Environmental Health, which also permits new wells, irrigation wells, water-producing geothermal wells and well repairs.2 A Certificate of Completion for a private drinking water well is required before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued.2

Results: the county mails bacteria results. For non-bacterial results, it points you to the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health's online results lookup.2

How often to test

Union County's recommended testing schedule:2

How often What
Every year Coliform bacteria, including fecal coliform
Every two or three years Heavy metals, nitrate, nitrite, lead and copper
Every five years Pesticides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs); test yearly if you know a particular pesticide is used in your area

Where to get tested and treatment options

Testing: start with Union County Environmental Health (above). NC DPH also publishes county contaminant reports showing average concentrations in private well samples tested by the State Laboratory of Public Health from 1998 to 2010. NC DPH notes that these averages can't predict the water quality in a single well.5

If arsenic is high: our arsenic guide covers the treatment types state agencies describe, including point-of-use reverse osmosis and arsenic adsorption media, and why softeners and carbon filters don't work for arsenic.

  1. Dieter, C.A., and others, 2018, Estimated Use of Water in the United States County-Level Data for 2015 (ver. 2.0), U.S. Geological Survey data release (domestic self-supplied population). https://doi.org/10.5066/F7TB15V5 ↩

  2. Union County, NC, Environmental Health, "Wells and Water Testing." https://www.unioncountync.gov/government/departments-a-e/environmental-health/wells-and-water-testing ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  3. Sanders, A.P., Messier, K.P., Shehee, M., Rudo, K., and others, 2012, "Arsenic in North Carolina: public health implications," Environment International (Table 1). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3539775/ ↩↩

  4. Ayotte, J.D., Medalie, L., and Qi, S.L., 2017, Estimated county level domestic well population with arsenic greater than 10 micrograms per liter based on probability estimates for the conterminous U.S., U.S. Geological Survey data release. https://doi.org/10.5066/F7CN724V ↩

  5. NC Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, "Well Water & Health: Contaminant Maps by County." https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/oee/wellwater/by_county.html ↩