Do Your Tenants Have Safe Water? Get Well Water Tested.

Landlords in Vermont have a number of responsibilities for maintaining safe rental properties — including providing clean drinking water to tenants. If the rental housing you own is supplied by well water, you should have the water tested.

Neither the State of Vermont nor the Environmental Protection Agency regulate private well water as they do for public water systems, which means the water quality of these wells might go unmonitored.

However, state law does require that private water provided to tenants be free from harmful levels of contaminants. The only way to know that? By having the water tested.

“Tenants rely on their landlords to keep their homes habitable, including making sure drinking water that comes from a well is safe,” said Matthew Bradstreet, Healthy Homes Program chief for the Vermont Department of Health.

The Health Department recommends a set of three water test kits for landlords and private homeowners whose properties have wells. The kits test for the most common drinking water contaminants, including E. coli, lead and arsenic.

The kits cost $159, and come with detailed sampling directions and information about how to return the samples. Landlords can order the kits from the Health Department Laboratory by calling 1-855-472-6979.

The Health Department recommends testing with all three kits every five years, and with the kit for coliform bacteria annually.

Bradstreet said landlords who test their well water using the recommended schedule are more likely to catch contaminants before they cause harm. Drinking contaminated water can cause a range of negative health effects from intestinal conditions to cancer.

“Landlords who can provide a water test history when they want to sell the rental units could also increase buyer confidence in the safety of the water,” Bradstreet said.

Tenants who want their well water tested can ask their landlord to do it, or can order a test kit and sample the water from their kitchen faucet themselves. Landlords and tenants who want more information about Vermont’s rental housing code requirements can visit rentalcodes.org.

If water does contain high levels of contaminants, state law requires that the water be treated. You can contact the Health Department’s Drinking Water Program at 1-800-439-8550 to learn about treatment options.

“You often can’t see, smell or taste contaminants in your drinking water, so you may not notice a problem unless you have it tested,” Bradstreet said.