Well water in Augusta and the Kennebec Valley

No region of Maine has better well data than the Kennebec Valley, and no region's data argues harder for testing. Around Augusta, Manchester, Hallowell, Gardiner, and Winthrop, the numbers below come from state testing, a Columbia University study, and peer-reviewed radon research, and they make central Kennebec County the state's defining arsenic hotspot.

Kennebec Valley, by the numbers

Finding	Result
Kennebec County wells over the 10 ug/L arsenic standard, state tests 2005 to 2009	29 percent
Wells over the standard in a Columbia study of 1,428 wells in 17 Kennebec towns, 2006 to 2011	31 percent
Town of Manchester wells over the standard	62 percent
Greater Augusta bedrock wells over Maine's 4,000 pCi/L radon guideline (786 wells tested)	29 percent

Sources: Portland Press Herald; Kennebec Journal; Yang et al. 2014.

Put plainly: roughly three in 10 tested wells in this county exceed the federal arsenic standard, and in Manchester it is most of them. USGS mapping names central Kennebec County one of Maine's arsenic clusters (USGS SIR 2010-5199). Arsenic carries no taste or smell, so the only visible difference between a clean well and a 60 ug/L well is the lab report.

Radon rides the same bedrock

The radon finding deserves equal billing. Maine's guideline for radon in well water is 4,000 pCi/L (Maine CDC radon guidance), and the Yang study found 29 percent of 786 tested bedrock wells in greater Augusta above it. Radon leaves the water and enters household air at every running tap. The fix is different from arsenic's, an aeration system rather than a filter, which is why the radon treatment page and the arsenic treatment page are separate reads. One well here can need both.

The Augusta advantage: the lab is local

Kennebec Valley owners have the shortest path to an answer in Maine. The state Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory is at 221 State Street in Augusta, (207) 287-2727, with kits available by mail. Yearly bacteria and nitrate tests plus the three-to-five-year bedrock panel is the Maine CDC cadence; the testing page has the details, and town-level arsenic context is on the arsenic data page. When a result needs equipment, we connect you free with an independent local professional. Other regions live on the service areas page.

Two footnotes worth money. Uranium travels with the same granite-influenced geology: the Yang study found 20 percent of wells within granitic plutons exceeded Maine's 30 ug/L uranium guideline, so keep uranium on the same lab order. And for households facing a big treatment bill, the MaineHousing Well Water Abatement program has offered help to eligible homeowners; check current funding status at MaineHousing before assuming the cost is all yours.

Towns served in this region: Augusta, Manchester, Hallowell, Gardiner, Winthrop, Readfield, and Sidney.

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Kennebec Valley well questions

Why are the Kennebec Valley arsenic numbers so high?

The bedrock. Arsenic occurs naturally in the metamorphic and granite-influenced rock under central Maine and dissolves into the groundwater that fractured-bedrock wells draw from. It is geology, not pollution, which is why neighbors a quarter mile apart can test wildly differently and why only your own lab result counts.

Manchester tested at 62 percent. Should Manchester owners assume the worst?

Assume nothing, test instead. The 62 percent figure means an untested Manchester well is more likely than not to exceed the arsenic standard, so the test is urgent, not optional. If your number comes back high, treatment is routine: reverse osmosis at the tap or a whole-house system sized to the result.

Is radon in water really a separate problem from radon in air?

They are linked. Radon dissolved in well water escapes into household air whenever water runs, adding to whatever enters from the soil. Maine flags well water above 4,000 pCi/L, and 29 percent of tested bedrock wells in the greater Augusta area exceeded that line. Aeration systems are the standard fix.

Where do I get a test around Augusta?

The state Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory sits at 221 State Street in Augusta, sells kits by mail, and can be reached at (207) 287-2727. Accredited private labs serve the region as well. If a result needs acting on, we connect you free with an independent local treatment professional.