Well water in Salisbury, Vermont
In Salisbury, 3% of 113 private wells tested had nitrate above the Vermont limit (10 mg/L), according to the Vermont Department of Health.
113 private wells tested in state summaries; 6 test results across 6 contaminants from at least 1 wells, 1980; 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
Vermont Tracking 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 | Median | 95th pct | Highest | State level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate | 113 | 0.25 | 2.76 | 12.7 | 10 mg/L | |
| Arsenic | 102 | * | * | 4 | 10 ug/L | |
| Fluoride | 100 | 0.05 | 0.15 | 0.34 | 4 mg/L | |
| Uranium | 99 | * | 6 | 13 | 20 ug/L | |
| Gross alpha Gross Alpha | 63 | 0.8 | 7 | 14.1 | 15 pCi/L |
* suppressed by the publisher because too few wells were tested.
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 Salisbury who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were nitrate (3% of 113 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 Salisbury
- 1Nitrate3% of 113 local wells tested were above the Vermont limit.
- 2Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 3FluorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 4ManganeseDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 5IronDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 6ChlorideDetected in 100% of local samples.
- 7Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)2 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
- 8PFAS1 unlined landfill on record locally.
- 9Metals panel2 hazardous waste sites on record locally.
Test your Salisbury well for nitrate, coliform bacteria 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 Vermont: certified labs, state programs and prices.
Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Salisbury numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
Wells in Salisbury
192 domestic wells in Salisbury are on record with the state since 1995. 84% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 280 feet deep (one in ten goes past 598 feet).
In a typical Salisbury well, bedrock starts about 37 feet down, the median yield is 12 gallons per minute, 17% 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 Salisbury
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 Vermont
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.
- Drinking Water, Vermont Department of Health
- Certification Programs for Other Labs, Vermont Department of Health
Contamination sources on record in Salisbury
Vermont ANR records 2 leaking underground storage tank sites, 1 unlined landfill, and 2 hazardous waste sites in Salisbury, among 12 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.
- 2
- hazardous waste sitesSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
- 7
- registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
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Common questions
How deep are wells in Salisbury?
The typical domestic well in Salisbury is 280 feet deep, based on 192 wells reported to the state since 1995. One in ten is deeper than 598 feet. 84% are drilled into bedrock.
How often should I test a private well in Salisbury?
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 Salisbury
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 Vermont dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.
Sources
- USGS Water Quality Portal: 6 samples in Salisbury. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- Vermont Tracking private well summaries: summaries for 5 contaminants in Salisbury, up to 113 wells each. Town summaries of private well tests reported to the Vermont Department of Health, published through Vermont Environmental Public Health Tracking. Shares are against the limit Vermont applies to each analyte: arsenic 10 ug/L, uranium 20 ug/L (stricter than EPA), fluoride 4 mg/L, nitrate 10 mg/L, gross alpha 15 pCi/L, radon 4,000 pCi/L advisory. Only towns with 20 or more results are published; statistics below the reporting limit show as *. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- Vermont ANR well completion reports: 203 well records in Salisbury, 192 domestic. Well completion reports filed with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources since 1966. Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
- Vermont ANR regulated sites: 12 regulated sites located in Salisbury. Hazardous waste sites, landfills and underground storage tanks from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. 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.