Well water in Bethel, Maine
In Bethel, none of 78 private wells tested had nitrate above the Maine guideline (10 mg/L), according to Maine CDC.
The strongest signal is coliform bacteria: Recommended for every private well, every year, too few samples to carry the headline but first on the test list below.
78 private wells tested in state summaries; 71 test results across 11 contaminants from at least 12 wells, 1979 to 2026; PFOA has the most at 12. 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, 0% of 12 PFOA results in Bethel were above the EPA limit of 4 ng/L. In that targeted sampling, 0% of 12 PFNA results in Bethel were above the EPA limit of 10 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 Bethel. 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.
| Contaminant | Above limit | Samples | Detected | Median | Highest | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PFOA 2024 to 2026 | 12 | 8% | 0 | 0.302 | 4 ng/L EPA limit | |
| PFNA 2024 to 2026 | 12 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 10 ng/L EPA limit | |
| PFOS 2024 to 2026 | 12 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 4 ng/L EPA limit | |
| PFHxS 2024 to 2026 | 12 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 10 ng/L EPA limit |
Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Nitrate (6), Fluoride (3), Radium (226 + 228) (1), Uranium (1), Iron (4), Manganese (4), Chloride (4).
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 Bethel who sent a sample to the state lab, no health-based limit was exceeded often enough to publish a share. That is good news, but a single well can still be the exception.
What to test for in Bethel
- 1Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 2NitrateRecommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
- 3Manganese5% of 62 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
- 4IronDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 5ChlorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 6FluorideDetected in 67% of local samples.
- 7Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)2 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
- 8PFAS1 unlined landfill on record locally.
- 9Metals panel1 hazardous waste site on record locally.
Test your Bethel well for coliform bacteria, nitrate and manganese
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 Bethel numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
Wells in Bethel
461 domestic wells in Bethel are on record with the state since 1985. 94% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 430 feet deep (one in ten goes past 630 feet).
In a typical Bethel well, bedrock starts about 18 feet down, the median yield is 4 gallons per minute, 39% 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 Bethel
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 Bethel
Maine DEP records 2 leaking underground storage tank sites, 1 unlined landfill, and 1 hazardous waste site in Bethel, among 5 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
- leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
- 1
- unlined landfillOlder unlined landfills are a leading source of PFAS, VOCs and metals in nearby wells.
- 1
- hazardous waste siteSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
- 1
- other remediation project
Treatment that fits the local profile
Manganese
Oxidizing filter (greensand, birm) whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Point-of-use reverse osmosis
Iron
Oxidizing filter whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Aeration plus filtration
Systems we would look at first
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For iron
Iron and manganese oxidizing filter
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $1,800
Air-injection or greensand media; fixes staining at the source.
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Common questions
How deep are wells in Bethel?
The typical domestic well in Bethel is 430 feet deep, based on 461 wells reported to the state since 1985. One in ten is deeper than 630 feet. 94% are drilled into bedrock.
How often should I test a private well in Bethel?
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 Bethel
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: 48 samples in Bethel. PFAS results for private wells sampled by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 23 samples in Bethel. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- Maine Tracking Network private well summaries: summaries for 6 contaminants in Bethel, up to 78 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: 471 well records in Bethel, 461 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: 5 regulated sites located in Bethel. 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.