Well water in Shelburne, New Hampshire
In Shelburne, none of 31 private wells tested between 2006 and 2020 had nitrate above the New Hampshire guidance level (10 mg/L), according to NH DHHS.
The strongest signal is lead: 30% of 23 local wells tested were above the New Hampshire guidance level, too few samples to carry the headline but first on the test list below.
31 private wells tested 2006 to 2020 in state summaries; 82 test results across 10 contaminants from at least 11 wells, 1986 to 1992; nitrate has the most at 14. Data refreshed September 3, 2026.
Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built
Separately, a USGS and NHDES statistical model puts the chance that a bedrock well in Shelburne exceeds 5 ug/L of arsenic at 10% (as low as 1% in parts of town), based on geology rather than tests.
What homeowner tests found
NH DHHS WISDOM private well summaries: private wells tested and reported to the state, 2006 to 2020. 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 | Median | 95th pct | Highest | State level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (stagnant) | 23 | 2.5 | 52.9 | 231 | 15 ug/L | |
| Sodium | 25 | 10.3 | 72.4 | 162 | 20 mg/L | |
| Iron | 26 | 200 | 2,800 | 4,400 | 300 ug/L | |
| Copper (stagnant) | 23 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 4.1 | 1.3 mg/L | |
| Manganese | 26 | 0 | 200 | 500 | 300 ug/L | |
| Chloride | 31 | 3.3 | 94.5 | 260 | 250 mg/L | |
| Nitrate | 31 | 0 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 10 mg/L | |
| Nitrite | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 mg/L | |
| Fluoride | 28 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 4 mg/L | |
| Arsenic | 25 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 5 ug/L | |
| Uranium | 25 | 0.7 | 6.6 | 10 | 30 ug/L |
What individual samples found
Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Shelburne. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluoride 1986 to 1992 | 12 | 100% | 0.3 | 4.7 | 4 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Nitrate 1986 to 1992 | 14 | 43% | 0 | 2.6 | 10 mg/L EPA limit | |
| Manganese 1986 to 1992 | no limit | 12 | 75% | 25 | 240 | 300 ug/L health guideline |
| Iron 1986 to 1992 | no limit | 12 | 58% | 10.5 | 1,000 | 300 ug/L nuisance level |
| Chloride 1986 to 1992 | no limit | 12 | 50% | 0.85 | 26 | 250 mg/L nuisance level |
| Sodium 1986 to 1992 | no limit | 12 | 100% | 4.4 | 84 | 20 mg/L health guideline |
Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Arsenic (3), Lead (2), Copper (2), Radon (1).
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 Shelburne who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were lead (30% of 23 wells) and copper (22% of 23 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.
Sodium and iron exceed the state's advisory level in a sizable share of wells; these are mostly a taste, staining or diet issue rather than a toxicity one.
What to test for in Shelburne
- 1Lead30% of 23 local wells tested were above the New Hampshire guidance level.
- 2Copper22% of 23 local wells tested were above the New Hampshire guidance level.
- 3Fluoride8% of 12 local samples were above the limit.
- 4Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 5RadonMedian local reading is 6,500 pCi/L.
- 6Sodium28% of 25 local wells tested were above the New Hampshire guidance level.
- 7Iron23% of 26 local wells tested were above the New Hampshire guidance level.
- 8NitrateRecommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
- 9Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)1 leaking underground storage tank site on record locally.
- 10PFAS1 unlined landfill on record locally.
Test your Shelburne well for lead, copper 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 New Hampshire: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Shelburne numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
Wells in Shelburne
61 domestic wells in Shelburne are on record with the state since 1984. 87% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 500 feet deep (one in ten goes past 1,000 feet).
In a typical Shelburne well, bedrock starts about 40 feet down, the median yield is 4 gallons per minute, 44% 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.
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.
- Open NHDES OneStop and choose Water Well.
- Enter your town and one word of your street name. Leave out the house number and the Road or Street part; a short search matches more.
- In the results, click Show for your address to see the report: total depth, depth to bedrock, casing, yield in gallons per minute, static water level, and the driller.
- Save Results exports the whole list to a spreadsheet.
Reports exist only for wells drilled since January 1984, when reporting became mandatory, and street names are as they were when the well was drilled.
The rock under Shelburne
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 New Hampshire
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 Shelburne
NHDES records 1 leaking underground storage tank site, 1 unlined landfill, and 1 reported spill or release in Shelburne, among 11 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
- leaking underground storage tank siteGasoline 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
- reported spill or releaseMost spills are fuel; a few are solvents or chemicals that reach the water table.
- 1
- registered underground storage tank siteRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
- 6
- other remediation projects
- 1
- other solid waste facility
Treatment that fits the local profile
Lead
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Certified lead-removal carbon filter; Neutralizing filter to raise pH and stop leaching
Copper
Neutralizing filter to raise pH; Point-of-use reverse osmosis
Sodium
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Distillation
Iron
Oxidizing filter whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Aeration plus filtration
Fluoride
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Activated alumina; Distillation
Radon
Aeration (bubble-up or diffused) whole-house; Granular activated carbon whole-house (lower levels only)
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 lead
Under-sink reverse osmosis system
under-sink or countertop, about $300
Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.
For lead
Acid neutralizing filter
whole-house, at the point of entry, about $1,200
Raises pH so plumbing stops leaching lead and copper.
For lead
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 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.
Free, no obligation
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Common questions
How deep are wells in Shelburne?
The typical domestic well in Shelburne is 500 feet deep, based on 61 wells reported to the state since 1984. One in ten is deeper than 1,000 feet. 87% are drilled into bedrock.
How often should I test a private well in Shelburne?
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 Shelburne
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 New Hampshire dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 82 samples in Shelburne. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- NH DHHS WISDOM private well summaries: summaries for 11 contaminants in Shelburne, up to 31 wells each. Town summaries of private well tests run by the New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories, published by NH DHHS through the WISDOM environmental public health tracking portal. Exceedance shares use New Hampshire guidance levels, which are stricter than EPA for arsenic (5 ug/L), manganese (0.3 mg/L), radon (2,000 pCi/L) and sodium (20 mg/L). Statistics for small counts are suppressed (*). Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- NH DHHS WISDOM private well summaries: modeled chance (10%) that a well in Shelburne exceeds 5 ug/L of arsenic, from geology rather than tests. Town summaries of private well tests run by the New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories, published by NH DHHS through the WISDOM environmental public health tracking portal. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- NHDES Water Well Inventory: 69 well records in Shelburne, 61 domestic. Well construction records reported to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Water Well Board. Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- NHDES OneStop regulated sites: 11 regulated sites located in Shelburne. Remediation sites, underground storage tanks, solid waste facilities and potential contamination sources from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services OneStop database. 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.