If your water comes from your own well, the upkeep falls to you

The Ocean County Health Department says it plainly on its well page: "your private, domestic potable well is YOUR responsibility." No utility tests that water or treats it for you. The state's sampling count shows 5,131 Ocean County wells tested under the Private Well Testing Act from September 2002 through March 2014, and 1,528 of those were in Jackson Township.

Readers here share an aquifer problem as well as a chore. The U.S. Geological Survey found that groundwater is very corrosive around Ocean County, and worse inland than along the coast. These stories go through testing at a sale, reading a report, acid water and copper, radium, PFAS, nitrate, pumps and what to do after a flood.

Sources checked Nov. 3, 2026.

• StoryA well must be tested before a sale can close

  The New Jersey Private Well Testing Act makes a water test a condition of selling a house with a private well.

• StoryYour well report has two kinds of limits, and they mean different things

  Reading a well water test report starts with one split.

• StoryThe aquifer under Ocean County is acidic, and copper plumbing feels it

  Acid well water eats at copper pipes because the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer is naturally low in pH and in dissolved minerals.

• StoryYour pH reading picks between a calcite tank and a soda ash feed

  Calcite neutralizer or soda ash comes down first to your pH reading.

• StoryRadium comes with the aquifer, and a 48-hour test finds it

  Radium and gross alpha come naturally from parts of the Cohansey in South Jersey, including Ocean County.

• StoryNew Jersey's sale test has checked wells for three PFAS since 2021

  PFAS on a private well in New Jersey is tested at sale and by landlords, for PFNA, PFOA and PFOS since December 1, 2021.

• StoryAfter floodwater reaches a well, the pump stays off until someone checks wiring

  A well after a flood needs its wiring checked before anything else.

• In briefBlue-green marks in the tub usually mean copper is leaving the pipes

  Blue-green stains on a sink or tub usually point to copper.

• In briefA well report's lead number depends on when the water was drawn

  Lead on a well report is judged against 5 ug/L when the sample is flushed, as the New Jersey sale test requires.

• In briefOrange and black stains point to iron and manganese in the well

  Iron and manganese in well water leave reddish or orange stains and black stains, by EPA's description.

• In briefTwo yearly tests catch the problems a well owner cannot taste

  Nitrate and coliform are the two tests New Jersey well owners should run every year, along with pH.

• In briefWell pump and tank work as a pair, and licensed people fix them

  A well pump and pressure tank work as a pair.

• In briefDeep wells on the coast draw on sands the state is watching

  Saltwater intrusion is a threat the state names for the seaward and bayward margins of its aquifers.

• In briefIf road salt worries you, add chloride to the test

  Road salt in private wells is a fair worry, and a chloride test is the way to check your own.