Well water testing in Rockingham County, New Hampshire (2026)

WellTestList · Friday, October 23, 2026 · county page · back to the New Hampshire page

Rockingham County has an estimated 67,000 households on private wells by EPA’s 2020 model, more than any other county in New Hampshire and one of the largest counts in the country. New Hampshire has no county health departments and no statewide rule that makes you test a private well, so it’s up to you. Here are the accredited labs inside the county, what they charge, and the extra tests Rockingham’s bedrock and gas-station history call for.

The short version

1. Test bacteria, nitrate and nitrite every year. Test the rest of NHDES’s list (arsenic, uranium, radon, manganese, lead, copper and more) every 3–5 years. That’s the NHDES April 2026 guidance.
2. The cheapest posted local price is in Derry. Granite State Analytical charges $30 for bacteria, $75 for its Basic package, and $185 for the full NH Well Water Test for Home Buyers. Its lobby is open 24/7 for kit pickup and after-hours drop-off.
3. On the Seacoast? Eurofins Portsmouth (603-436-2001) hands out kits Monday–Friday and takes drinking water samples Monday–Thursday. It doesn’t post prices, so call.
4. Rockingham County adds three things. Arsenic and uranium come from the bedrock, radon is common, and the county used reformulated gasoline for years, so MtBE turns up in wells. Near Pease or the Coakley Landfill, ask about PFAS too.

Who to call: there’s no county health department

Rockingham County government doesn’t run a well program or a lab. Private-well guidance comes from the state, and building rules come from your town. Statewide, NHDES runs private well outreach and the free Be Well Informed tool, where you type in your lab results and get plain-language advice. The NHDES Water Well Board says plainly that New Hampshire has no requirement for water quality testing of private domestic wells.

For a result you don’t understand, start with Be Well Informed or your town’s health officer, not a treatment company. The state Public Health Laboratories in Concord also test homeowner samples for a fee (603-271-3445, waterlab@dhhs.nh.gov). The old fee table in state law was repealed effective July 31, 2026, so call for current prices.

Accredited labs in Rockingham County

Both of these labs are on the NHDES list of labs accredited by the state program (NHELAP) that serve private well owners. Neither sells water treatment as far as we could find.

The table scrolls sideways on a phone.

Two other labs on the NHDES list sit in or near the county, but we left them off because they also sell treatment: New England Radon in Salem advertises radon mitigation and “solutions for water contamination problems,” and Seacoast Analytical Services (Lee, with an Epping drop-off) is a division of a well and pump company. If you want more choices, Eurofins Eastern Analytical in Concord (603-228-0525) and Nelson Analytical in Manchester (603-622-0200) are short drives and on the same NHDES list. You can check any lab in the NHELAP accredited lab search.

What’s in Rockingham County groundwater

Arsenic, uranium, manganese, and lead. USGS sampled 232 private bedrock wells across Hillsborough, Rockingham, and Strafford counties in 2012–2013. In that study, 17.2% of samples were over the arsenic limit, 2.6% over the uranium limit, 5.2% over EPA’s manganese health advisory, and 3% over 15 µg/L of lead. USGS estimated that 49,700 people in the three counties may drink bedrock well water with arsenic above the limit. Arsenic has no taste or smell, so the only way to know is a test. Granite State’s Basic plus arsenic is $90.

Radon. USGS maps show a high chance of elevated radon in groundwater across much of New Hampshire. Radon in water needs its own vial; it’s in Granite State’s $155 Comprehensive, or $40 by itself.

MtBE. Rockingham County was one of the New Hampshire counties required to use reformulated gasoline, which contained the additive MtBE. A USGS and NHDES study found MtBE in 21% of 103 private wells sampled in the county, though none were above the state limit of 13 µg/L. A follow-up found it in about a quarter of southeast New Hampshire wells in 2005 and tracked how levels changed through 2015. MtBE isn’t in the standard packages. Ask for a VOC test if you live near a gas station or a past spill.

PFAS. NHDES recommends every well owner test for at least PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS and PFNA. You can ask NHDES to sample your well on its PFAS private well page; it picks wells by priority, so a request isn’t a guarantee. On the Seacoast, the Air Force has sampled private wells within a mile of the former Pease base in Newington, Greenland and Portsmouth, and EPA’s fall 2025 round near the Coakley Landfill in North Hampton and Greenland found PFAS above EPA limits in 6 of 18 private wells sampled. PFAS is a separate test, and our PFAS page covers which method to ask for.

These numbers describe the region, not your lot. Results change from one well to the next, so only your own test tells you.

New wells and home sales

New wells. The state doesn’t require a test, but some towns do. Salem, for example, requires a well permit and, before a Certificate of Occupancy on new construction or any well replacement, a test by a New Hampshire-certified lab for bacteria, hardness, chloride, fluoride, sodium, nitrate and nitrite, iron, lead, manganese, arsenic, pH, and a VOC screen. Results must meet EPA limits before the town issues the certificate (see Salem’s private well FAQ). Ask your own town’s building or health office what it requires before your driller finishes.

Home sales. Under RSA 477:4-d, the seller of a one-to-four-family home must disclose in writing the type and location of the water supply, any problems, and the date of the most recent water test and whether it was ever unsatisfactory. There’s no statewide test at sale, so a buyer usually orders one. The usual package is the NH Well Water Test for Home Buyers ($185 at Granite State as its Comprehensive plus uranium), and FHA or VA loans have their own panels ($65–$100). Our home purchase / lender page covers chain of custody.

Mail-in kits that email a PDF

If you can’t get to Derry or Portsmouth during the week, independent mail-in labs ship to Rockingham County. Listed prices checked October 23, 2026:

• Tap Score / SimpleLab Essential Well: $209.
• National Testing Laboratories WaterCheck Basic: $220. Next-day return shipping isn’t included, so budget for it on the bacteria bottle.

These cost more than a local Basic package. They make sense when you want metals, minerals, and VOCs at once with a readable report. Radon in water and PFAS are separate kits. Ask a lender before using one for a sale.

Side by side for a Rockingham County well

The table scrolls sideways on a phone.

Related: New Hampshire well testing · Chester County, PA · Oakland County, MI · How to read a well water report · PFAS 533 / 537.1 · Home purchase / lender · back to the directory.