Well water in Damariscotta, Maine
1in6
Testing recommended
private wells tested in Damariscotta had uranium above the Maine guideline (30 ug/L), according to Maine CDC.
The strongest signal is PFOA: 54% of 35 local samples were above the limit, too few samples to carry the headline but first on the test list below.
64 private wells tested in state summaries; 140 test results across 4 contaminants from at least 35 wells, 2023 to 2025; PFOA has the most at 35. Data refreshed September 3, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
Maine DEP samples private wells near fields where sludge or septage was spread and near other known PFAS sources, and resamples detections. PFAS shares describe wells that were tested for a reason, not every well in the area. In that targeted sampling, 54% of 35 PFOA results in Damariscotta were above the EPA limit of 4 ng/L. In that targeted sampling, 29% of 35 PFOS results in Damariscotta were above the EPA limit of 4 ng/L.
What homeowner tests found
Maine Tracking Network private well summaries: private wells tested and reported to the state. Shares are against the level the state applies to each contaminant, named in the last column; several are stricter than EPA.
What individual samples found
Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Damariscotta. Above limit means above the EPA maximum contaminant level; where EPA has no enforceable limit, the row shows a health guideline or nuisance level instead.
Closer than the town
See the sampled wells near your address
The same records, drawn around one point: which wells within a few miles were sampled and what they found, how deep the wells next to you were drilled, and any leaking tank or cleanup site within a mile.
Check my addressWhat this means
Among homeowners in Damariscotta who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were uranium (16% of 49 wells), arsenic (2% of 52 wells), and nitrate (2% of 64 wells). These are ordinary wells tested by their owners, so the shares are the best available picture of a typical well here, with one caveat: people test more often when they suspect a problem.
What to test for in Damariscotta
- 1PFOA54% of 35 local samples were above the limit.
- 2PFOS29% of 35 local samples were above the limit.
- 3Uranium16% of 49 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
- 4Arsenic2% of 52 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
- 5Nitrate2% of 64 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
- 6Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 7Manganese4% of 52 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
- 8PFAS2 unlined landfills on record locally.
- 9Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)2 unlined landfills on record locally.
Test your Damariscotta well for PFOA, PFOS and uranium
Certified lab analysis of your own tap water, bottles and prepaid return shipping included. The Essential well panel covers arsenic, uranium, nitrate, lead, copper, manganese, iron, sodium and bacteria; radon and PFAS are add-ons.
Order the Tap Score well water test kit, from $209Already tested? Upload the report
Just want bacteria checked first? Tap Score coliform and E. coli test, $99. Coliform and E. coli are the tests every well needs every year.
Want a quick look before paying for a lab? Home well water test strips on Amazon check hardness, iron, pH and nitrate in minutes. They are a screen, not a result: arsenic, bacteria, uranium and PFAS need a certified lab.
Affiliate links: the merchant pays us a commission and the price is the same for you. It does not change what the data above says. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Where to get a well tested in Maine: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Damariscotta numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
Wells in Damariscotta
220 domestic wells in Damariscotta are on record with the state since 1970. 100% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 200 feet deep (one in ten goes past 380 feet).
In a typical Damariscotta well, bedrock starts about 10 feet down, the median yield is 6.75 gallons per minute, 22% of wells yield under 3 gallons per minute and usually need a storage tank.
Bedrock wells are where arsenic, uranium and radon come from: the water sits in fractures in granite and metamorphic rock and picks up whatever the rock carries. That is why testing for those three matters more here than in a dug or gravel well.
The rock under Damariscotta
Not a principal aquifer
The USGS map places this area outside any principal aquifer, which usually means wells here draw from fractured bedrock or thin local deposits rather than a large regional aquifer. Bedrock wells of that kind are where arsenic, radon and uranium turn up, and yields vary from well to well.
Classification from the USGS Principal Aquifers of the United States (national map, 2003 edition, GIS release 2015), read at the town centroid. A single well can sit in a different unit, especially near a boundary.
Official help in Maine
Two places to start that are not selling anything: the state program that answers private well questions, and its list of labs certified to run drinking water tests. A certified lab is the difference between a result you can act on and a number.
- Private Well Water, Maine CDC
- Laboratory Accreditation, Maine CDC
Contamination sources on record in Damariscotta
Maine DEP records 2 unlined landfills in Damariscotta, among 6 regulated sites in total. Groundwater does not follow property lines, so a well within a few hundred feet of one of these is worth testing for what that site could release.
- 2
- unlined landfillsOlder unlined landfills are a leading source of PFAS, VOCs and metals in nearby wells.
- 4
- other remediation projects
Treatment that fits the local profile
Uranium
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange; Whole-house anion exchange
PFOA
Granular activated carbon whole-house; Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange
PFOS
Granular activated carbon whole-house; Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange
Systems we would look at first
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For uranium
Under-sink reverse osmosis system
under-sink or countertop, about $300
Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.
For uranium
Whole-house arsenic and uranium filter
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $2,500
Adsorptive iron-based media; sized to your well yield.
For PFOA
Aquasana SmartFlow reverse osmosis
under-sink or countertop, about $225
Certified to NSF/ANSI 58 and 53 to reduce arsenic (96%, pentavalent), fluoride (90%), lead (99%), nitrate, nitrite and PFOA/PFOS at the kitchen tap, with a remineralizer.
For PFOA
Whole-house PFAS carbon system
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $3,000
Granular activated carbon certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for PFOA and PFOS; replace media on schedule.
For PFOA
Aquasana HealthShield whole-house filter
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $2,099
Whole-house carbon system the maker certifies to reduce PFAS (PFOA and PFOS) and VOCs at every tap; a UV option adds bacteria protection.
For PFOS
Aquasana Claryum 3-Stage under-sink filter
under-sink or countertop, about $175
Certified to NSF/ANSI 53 to reduce 99% of lead and 99.7% of PFOA and PFOS at the tap. Not a fix for arsenic, nitrate or bacteria.
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Common questions
How deep are wells in Damariscotta?
The typical domestic well in Damariscotta is 200 feet deep, based on 220 wells reported to the state since 1970. One in ten is deeper than 380 feet. 100% are drilled into bedrock.
How often should I test a private well in Damariscotta?
Test for bacteria and nitrate every year. Test once for arsenic, uranium, radon, fluoride, manganese and PFAS, then again every three to five years or after any change in taste, color, or plumbing.
Towns near Damariscotta
Closest first. Groundwater does not stop at a line on a map, so the next town over is a fair second opinion.
Want the numbers themselves? Download the Maine dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- Maine DEP PFAS investigation: 140 samples in Damariscotta. PFAS results for private wells sampled by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- Maine Tracking Network private well summaries: summaries for 6 contaminants in Damariscotta, up to 64 wells each. Town summaries of private well tests run by the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory, published by Maine CDC through the Maine Tracking Network. Shares are against Maine's guideline for each analyte (arsenic 10 ug/L, uranium 30 ug/L, fluoride 2 mg/L, manganese 0.3 mg/L, nitrate 10 mg/L, nitrite 1 mg/L). Towns with too few tests are suppressed (NR). Only the share above the guideline and wells tested are published; no medians. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- Maine Geological Survey well database: 233 well records in Damariscotta, 220 domestic. Well construction records reported to the Maine Geological Survey by licensed well drillers. Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- Maine DEP regulated sites: 6 regulated sites located in Damariscotta. Remediation sites, leaking underground storage tanks and closed municipal landfills from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
Non-detects count as samples and are treated as zero when computing medians. Exactly at the limit counts as not above it. A sample belongs to the town containing the well's reported coordinates.