Well Water Nerd

Well water in Granby, Massachusetts

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Testing strongly recommended

private wells tested between 2020 and 2023 in Granby had PFOS above the EPA limit (4 ng/L), according to MassDEP.

33 private wells tested 2020 to 2023 in state summaries; 32 test results across 10 contaminants from at least 4 wells, 1973 to 1995; nitrate has the most at 8. Data refreshed September 16, 2026.

Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built

MassDEP offered free PFAS tests to towns without public water and to wells near suspected sources such as landfills, fire stations and airports, so these shares describe the wells that took part rather than every well in town.

What homeowner tests found

MassDEP Private Well PFAS Sampling Program: private wells tested and reported to the state, 2020 to 2023. 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
PFOS3309.76124 ng/L
PFOA330.719.24124 ng/L
PFHxS33034.410 ng/L
PFNA3300.1840.5310 ng/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 Granby who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were PFOS (24% of 33 wells) and PFOA (21% of 33 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 Granby

  1. 1
    PFOS
    24% of 33 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
  2. 2
    PFOA
    21% of 33 local wells tested were above the EPA limit.
  3. 3
    Coliform bacteria
    Recommended for every private well, every year.
  4. 4
    Radon
    Median local reading is 12,000 pCi/L.
  5. 5
    Nitrate
    Recommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
  6. 6
    Chloride
    Detected in 100% of local samples.
  7. 7
    Fluoride
    Detected in 75% of local samples.
  8. 8
    Manganese
    Detected in 75% of local samples.

Test your Granby well for PFOS, PFOA 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 $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 Massachusetts: certified labs, state programs and prices.

Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Granby numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.

Wells in Granby

685 domestic wells in Granby are on record with the state since 1963. 86% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 223 feet deep (one in ten goes past 422 feet).

In a typical Granby well, bedrock starts about 28 feet down, the median yield is 13 gallons per minute, 3% 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.

22
1960s
3
1970s
121
1980s
210
1990s
164
2000s
129
2010s
33
2020s

Find your own well's report

The state keeps the driller's report for most wells drilled since 1984. It tells you how deep your well is, where bedrock starts, and how much water it makes, which decides what treatment can work.

  1. Open MassDEP Well Location Viewer and choose Water Well.
  2. The completion report lists total depth, depth to bedrock, static water level, yield and the driller.

Drillers have filed completion reports with the state since 1984; the viewer's public copy is refreshed a few times a year.

The rock under Granby

Early Mesozoic basin aquifers

Sandstone. Sandstone wells draw from pore space in the rock and tend to be dependable. Iron, manganese and hardness are common, and some sandstones carry arsenic or radium, so a first test should include both.

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 Massachusetts

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 Granby

MassDEP records 4 regulated sites in Granby, among 4 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
registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
1
lined landfill or transfer facility
1
other remediation project

Treatment that fits the local profile

PFOS

Granular activated carbon whole-house; Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange

PFOA

Granular activated carbon whole-house; Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange

Radon

Aeration (bubble-up or diffused) whole-house; Granular activated carbon whole-house (lower levels only)

Manganese

Oxidizing filter (greensand, birm) whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Point-of-use reverse osmosis

Systems we would look at first

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For PFOS

Under-sink reverse osmosis system

under-sink or countertop, about $300

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

For PFOS

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 PFOS

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

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.

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 manganese

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.

Free, no obligation

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

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

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Common questions

How deep are wells in Granby?

The typical domestic well in Granby is 223 feet deep, based on 685 wells reported to the state since 1963. One in ten is deeper than 422 feet. 86% are drilled into bedrock.

How often should I test a private well in Granby?

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 Granby

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 Massachusetts dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.

Sources

  • USGS Water Quality Portal: 32 samples in Granby. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
  • MassDEP Private Well PFAS Sampling Program: summaries for 4 contaminants in Granby, up to 33 wells each. Private well PFAS results from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection free sampling program, 2020 to 2023, one anonymized row per well. Shares are against the EPA limit for each compound (4 ng/L for PFOA and PFOS, 10 ng/L for PFHxS and PFNA). Massachusetts applies its own PFAS6 standard of 20 ng/L to the sum of six compounds; that sum is not a contaminant page here. Zero means not detected. Retrieved September 16, 2026.
  • MassDEP well completion reports: 748 well records in Granby, 685 domestic. Well completion reports filed with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, as published in the Well Location Viewer (April 2023 vintage). Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. Retrieved September 16, 2026.
  • MassDEP regulated sites: 4 regulated sites located in Granby. Chapter 21E release sites, solid waste landfills and underground storage tank facilities from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, through MassGIS. Retrieved September 16, 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.