About Septic & Well Guide
Septic & Well Guide is a free, plain-language manual for the tens of millions of U.S. households that treat their own wastewater or pump their own drinking water.
Why we built it
EPA says more than one in five U.S. households depend on a septic or small cluster system, and the USGS estimates more than 43 million people drink water from private wells. Many of them bought a house and inherited a system nobody explained. The useful facts are scattered across state health department PDFs, university extension bulletins, and contractor websites that are selling a service.
We pull those sources together into one place, keep the language plain, and show where every figure comes from. We cover septic and well together because they so often share a property, and because a septic system that fails can contaminate the well a few dozen yards away.
What you will find here
A septic pumping calculator, a well water test reader that compares lab results with EPA standards, a what-not-to-flush list, and checklists for first-year owners and home buyers. Guides explain how systems work, the warning signs of trouble, well testing and disinfection, and what to do after a flood.
Who writes it
Septic & Well Guide is written and maintained by a small editorial team at an independent web publisher. We are not lawyers, engineers, doctors, or government officials, and we do not claim to be. What we do is read the primary sources (statutes, agency guidance, university extension publications, and official court and health-department pages), turn them into plain steps, and link every claim back to where it came from.
How the site is paid for
The site is free to use and is supported by display advertising from Google. Advertisers do not choose or review our topics, and ads never change what a guide says. Read our editorial standards for how we pick sources, correct mistakes, and keep ads separate from content.
Tell us what we got wrong
Rules change and local details vary. If you spot an error or an out-of-date figure, please send us a note with a link to the source. We read every correction and date-stamp the fix.
Photo and video credits
Home page background video (aerial view of a rural farmhouse) by David Pickup on Pexels, used under the Pexels license.