Well water in Charleston, Vermont
In Charleston, 4% of 47 private wells tested had uranium above the Vermont limit (20 ug/L), according to the Vermont Department of Health.
68 private wells tested in state summaries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radon | 22 | 1,290 | 4,339 | 8,930 | 4,000 pCi/L | |
| Gross alpha Gross Alpha | 30 | 2.7 | 14.8 | 27.2 | 15 pCi/L | |
| Uranium | 47 | 2 | 23 | 893 | 20 ug/L | |
| Fluoride | 68 | 0.145 | 2.17 | 3.6 | 4 mg/L | |
| Nitrate | 66 | 0.25 | 3.04 | 5.36 | 10 mg/L | |
| Arsenic | 63 | * | * | 3 | 10 ug/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 Charleston who sent a sample to the state lab, the health-based limits most often exceeded were uranium (4% of 47 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.
Radon was above the Vermont advisory level of 4,000 pCi/L in 9% of 22 wells. Radon in water matters because it moves into indoor air during showers and laundry.
What to test for in Charleston
- 1Uranium4% of 47 local wells tested were above the Vermont limit.
- 2Coliform bacteriaRecommended for every private well, every year.
- 3Radon9% of 22 local wells tested were above the Vermont advisory level.
- 4Gross alpha7% of 30 local wells tested were above the Vermont limit.
- 5NitrateRecommended for every private well, especially near farms or septic systems.
- 6Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)6 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
Test your Charleston well for uranium, coliform bacteria and radon
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 Charleston numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.
Wells in Charleston
186 domestic wells in Charleston are on record with the state since 1996. 100% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 254 feet deep (one in ten goes past 504 feet).
In a typical Charleston well, bedrock starts about 21 feet down, the median yield is 12 gallons per minute, 10% 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 Charleston
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 Charleston
Vermont ANR records 6 leaking underground storage tank sites in Charleston, among 8 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.
- 6
- leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
- 2
- registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
Treatment that fits the local profile
Radon
Aeration (bubble-up or diffused) whole-house; Granular activated carbon whole-house (lower levels only)
Gross alpha
Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Water softener (cation exchange) for radium; Anion exchange for uranium
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 gross alpha
Under-sink reverse osmosis system
under-sink or countertop, about $300
Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.
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Get on the list for a free in-home water test in Charleston
No water treatment company serves Charleston 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 Charleston, and you get an email naming it first.
Common questions
How deep are wells in Charleston?
The typical domestic well in Charleston is 254 feet deep, based on 186 wells reported to the state since 1996. One in ten is deeper than 504 feet. 100% are drilled into bedrock.
How often should I test a private well in Charleston?
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 Charleston
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
- Vermont Tracking private well summaries: summaries for 6 contaminants in Charleston, up to 68 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: 196 well records in Charleston, 186 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: 8 regulated sites located in Charleston. 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.