Well Water in Waldo County, Maine

Waldo County · Population ~40,000 (county) · Aquifer: Bedrock / Glacial Deposits

The PFAS and Arsenic Overlap

Waldo County is where Maine's two major well water threats converge. The county has both:

• PFAS contamination from decades of biosolids spreading on farmland, particularly in the Unity and Brooks areas
• Natural arsenic in bedrock groundwater, found across the county

This means well owners may be dealing with two entirely different types of contamination simultaneously — one man-made and persistent, one geological and ancient. Both are invisible in water. Both require testing to detect. And they may require different treatment approaches.

Unity and the Farm Crisis

The Unity area has been one of the focal points of Maine's PFAS investigation. Farms that received sludge have shown elevated PFAS in soil and groundwater. The contamination has affected not just the farms themselves but neighboring properties whose wells draw from the same aquifer.

Maine's organic farming community, centered partly in Waldo County, has been devastated. Farms that spent years building organic certification have discovered their soil and water are contaminated with chemicals they never applied.

Testing Is Critical

Waldo County well owners need to test for both PFAS and arsenic — not one or the other. The Maine CDC offers free arsenic testing, and the Maine DEP offers PFAS testing for wells near known sludge sites.

A comprehensive panel should also include manganese, uranium, radon, bacteria, nitrate, and pH.

See our testing guide for all options.