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The Dubuque County Public Health Department’s Environmental Health division conducts private well testing for private well owners at their request. Health Departments throughout the state conduct similar testing. Dubuque County Public Health Department applies annually for Private Well Grant funding through the state of Iowa. Testing is not done routinely but rather at the request of well owners. Test results funded through the grant are required to be entered into the Iowa Well Information System (IWIS), a public statewide database.
A private well is entirely managed by the well user, including the water supply well, the water distribution system, and all treatment systems. A private water supply connects to fewer than 15 individual connections (like homes, apartments, camp spaces, etc.) and provides water for less than 25 individuals per day. The County Public Health Department permits private well construction.
The County's grant-funded testing program may provide testing of private wells for the following:
E-coli/Coliform annually
Nitrate annually
Arsenic every three years
Manganese every three years
Lead if certain criteria are met
PFAS if certain criteria are met
Radon if certain criteria are met
In addition, the Public Health Department partners with the Iowa State Hygienic Laboratory to offer additional private well testing. The most commonly requested tests include:
○ Nitrate
◐ Arsenic
◐ Manganese
○ Arsenic/Manganese Combined
○ Lead
○ Iron
○ Sulfate
○ Sulfide
○ Fluoride
○ Hardness
○ Total Dissolved Solids
○ Total Suspended Solids
Public water systems (PWS) are routinely monitored and tested by certified operators in compliance with Iowa DNR standards and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act rules. There are about 70 public wells in Dubuque County, including 10 owned by the Dubuque County Conservation Dept. The Conservation Dept. director and staff are certified to collect the well tests. Other public well systems include municipal wells, and rural operations where the well serves over 25 users per day, such as restaurants, etc. The public can access historical public well testing results statewide at the IWIS well search database.
These public well tests provide an insight into groundwater conditions. One of the things that makes Dubuque County and other northeast Iowa counties somewhat unusual is our karst soils which facilitate