Well water in Kittery, Maine

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Testing recommended

private wells tested in Kittery had arsenic above the Maine guideline (10 ug/L), according to Maine CDC.

48 private wells tested in state summaries; 4 test results across 4 contaminants from at least 1 wells, 1961; nitrate 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

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.

Contaminant	Above state level	Wells tested	State level
Arsenic	14%	42	10 ug/L
Nitrate	2%	43	10 mg/L
Fluoride	0%	48	2 mg/L
Nitrite	0%	43	1 mg/L
Manganese	0%	41	300 ug/L
Uranium	0%	39	30 ug/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.

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What this means

Among homeowners in Kittery who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were arsenic (14% of 42 wells) and nitrate (2% of 43 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 Kittery

1
Arsenic
14% of 42 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
2
Nitrate
2% of 43 local wells tested were above the Maine guideline.
3
Coliform bacteria
Recommended for every private well, every year.
4
Chloride
Detected in 100% of local samples.
5
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
7 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
6
PFAS
1 unlined landfill on record locally.
7
Metals panel
1 hazardous waste site on record locally.

Test your Kittery well for arsenic, nitrate and coliform bacteria

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 $209 Already 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 Kittery numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.

Wells in Kittery

207 domestic wells in Kittery are on record with the state since 1970. 100% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 225 feet deep (one in ten goes past 468 feet).

In a typical Kittery well, bedrock starts about 7 feet down, the median yield is 15 gallons per minute, 13% 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.

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

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 Kittery

Maine DEP records 7 leaking underground storage tank sites, 1 unlined landfill, and 1 hazardous waste site in Kittery, among 33 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.

7: 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.
24: other remediation projects

Treatment that fits the local profile

Arsenic

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Adsorptive media (iron-based) 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 arsenic

Under-sink reverse osmosis system

under-sink or countertop, about $300

Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.

For arsenic

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 arsenic

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.

Free, no obligation

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

No water treatment company serves Kittery 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 Kittery, and you get an email naming it first.

Common questions

How deep are wells in Kittery?

The typical domestic well in Kittery is 225 feet deep, based on 207 wells reported to the state since 1970. One in ten is deeper than 468 feet. 100% are drilled into bedrock.

How often should I test a private well in Kittery?

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 Kittery

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: 4 samples in Kittery. 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 Kittery, up to 48 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: 220 well records in Kittery, 207 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: 33 regulated sites located in Kittery. 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.