Well water testing at a NJ home sale (PWTA)
Last updated 2026-10-13. Checked against the official sources listed at the end of this page. Not legal advice: confirm with the town and your attorney.
Reviewed by NJ Home Sale Checklist staff
- Under the Private Well Testing Act (N.J.S.A. 58:12A-26 et seq.), a contract to sell a property whose potable water comes from a private well must require the water to be tested. Closing can't happen until both buyer and seller have received and reviewed the results (NJDEP PWTA).
- Landlords must test every 5 years and give tenants the results.
- Samples must be collected by a NJDEP-certified laboratory or its authorized representative, and analyzed by labs certified for each parameter (NJDEP Office of Quality Assurance).
- Cost: estimate only, roughly $400-$900 for the full PWTA panel (medium-low confidence, not from an official source). Ask labs for written quotes.
We don't list certified drinking-water / PWTA lab yet. NJDEP publishes the official list through its own lookup tool: https://dep.nj.gov/dsr/oqa/pwta/. Providers can ask to be listed; we would verify against the official record.
Sources
- NJDEP PWTA (dep.nj.gov)
- NJDEP Office of Quality Assurance (dep.nj.gov)
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