A Free Well Test Is Available Across the Central Coast

San Luis Obispo County has one free testing program for household wells listed in the State Water Board's statewide directory, and it covers Paso Robles, Templeton, Creston and the rest of north county. The county's private well owner page links to it as "Free Drinking Water Testing for the Central Coast."

What the program does

It sends qualifying owners' water to an accredited lab for health-related contaminants such as nitrate, arsenic and 1,2,3-trichloropropane, at no charge. The service is voluntary and runs in Santa Cruz, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. The Central Coast Regional Water Board's program summary, updated October 29, 2026, credits it to the Bay Foundation of Morro Bay and reports that about 1,058 wells have been sampled since October 2018. About one well in three, roughly 33 percent, failed at least one standard; nitrate and hexavalent chromium were the usual culprits.

Qualifying is decided by the program, not by us. Its own site asks owners to phone the program to learn whether a well qualifies and to set a sampling date; reach that site through the county page above, and confirm the program is still taking wells before planning around it.

What it does not do

It does not deliver water. The state directory marks the SLO County entry as offering no replacement water, while the regional board says the program shares information on separate free bottled water delivery for income-qualified households whose results are unsafe. Treatment remains the owner's decision, after a confirmed result.

Results are not entirely private. Names and contact details stay confidential, but each tested well's location and lab numbers are published on GAMA, the state's open groundwater map.

Landlords should read the state's AB 2454 page. Where a domestic well serves a rental inside a free program's area, the owner must test through that program, share results with tenants within 10 days, and may not charge tenants for testing or safe water. A free test is a start, not a full schedule; see testing your well water and the stories on nitrate and arsenic.

Sources

1. Central Coast Water Board — Drinking Water Well Testing Program summary (PDF) — operator, start date, wells sampled, failure rate, public results, bottled water information
2. State Water Board — Well Testing Program Directory (xlsx) — sole SLO County program; no replacement water
3. State Water Board — Rental Property Domestic Well Testing Requirements (AB 2454) — landlord duties
4. County of San Luis Obispo — Private Well Owner Resources — link to the free program