Well Water Nerd

Well water in Norway, Maine

1in13

Testing recommended

private wells tested in Norway had uranium above the Maine guideline (30 ug/L), according to Maine CDC.

98 private wells tested in state summaries; 10 test results across 10 contaminants from at least 1 wells, 1964 to 2025; PFHxS has the most at 1. 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.

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.

ContaminantAbove state levelWells testedMedian95th pctHighestState level
Uranium6330 ug/L
Arsenic6710 ug/L
Fluoride982 mg/L
Manganese64300 ug/L
Nitrate7410 mg/L
Nitrite741 mg/L

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 address

What this means

Among homeowners in Norway who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were uranium (8% of 63 wells), arsenic (5% of 67 wells), and fluoride (3% of 98 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 Norway

  1. 1
    Uranium
    8% of 63 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
  2. 2
    Arsenic
    5% of 67 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
  3. 3
    Fluoride
    3% of 98 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
  4. 4
    Coliform bacteria
    Recommended for every private well, every year.
  5. 5
    Nitrate
    Recommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
  6. 6
    Manganese
    2% of 64 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
  7. 7
    Chloride
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  8. 8
    Iron
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  9. 9
    PFAS
    1 unlined landfill on record locally.
  10. 10
    Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
    1 unlined landfill on record locally.
  11. 11
    Metals panel
    5 hazardous waste sites on record locally.

Test your Norway well for uranium, arsenic and fluoride

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 Norway numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.

Wells in Norway

432 domestic wells in Norway are on record with the state since 1985. 99% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 400 feet deep (one in ten goes past 600 feet).

In a typical Norway well, bedrock starts about 22 feet down, the median yield is 5 gallons per minute, 28% 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.

12
1980s
14
1990s
139
2000s
90
2010s
176
2020s

The rock under Norway

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.

Contamination sources on record in Norway

Maine DEP records 1 unlined landfill and 5 hazardous waste sites in Norway, among 16 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.

1
unlined landfillOlder unlined landfills are a leading source of PFAS, VOCs and metals in nearby wells.
5
hazardous waste sitesSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
10
other remediation projects

Treatment that fits the local profile

Uranium

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange; Whole-house anion exchange

Systems we would look at first

Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, the merchant pays us a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change which products we list or what the data says.

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.

Free, no obligation

Get on the list for a free in-home water test in Norway

No water treatment company serves Norway through Well Water Nerd yet. We are signing licensed companies on county by county: they test at your tap for free, walk you through the numbers, and quote treatment only if something needs fixing. Leave your details and you are first in line. Nothing is shared until a company joins for Norway, and you get an email naming it first.

What are you worried about?

The test is free and there is no obligation. No company is named yet; your details stay with us until one joins for your area, and we log the time and address of this request.

Common questions

How deep are wells in Norway?

The typical domestic well in Norway is 400 feet deep, based on 432 wells reported to the state since 1985. One in ten is deeper than 600 feet. 99% are drilled into bedrock.

How often should I test a private well in Norway?

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 Norway

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

  • USGS Water Quality Portal: 6 samples in Norway. 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 DEP PFAS investigation: 4 samples in Norway. 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 Norway, up to 98 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: 433 well records in Norway, 432 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: 16 regulated sites located in Norway. 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.