Effective January 1, 2024, before selling, conveying, or transferring a property title, the owner must test the water of each private drinking water well, including testing for PFAS. Access the full regulations here: Town of Nantucket: Private Well Regulations (Chapter 386) Includes PFAS Testing.
- Water quality sampling kits are available at the Department of Health & Human Services office at 131 Pleasant St, or you can use this MassDEP tool to find a lab.
- How to sample your well: https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/3079/Well-Testing-Sampling
- How to interpret your results: Information for Property Owners and Residents Who Have Sampled their PFAS.
- Resources if you decide to filter your water:
- PFAS Frequently Asked Questions: FAQs | Nantucket, MA – Official Website.
Nantucket Private Well Sampling Results (Well Regulations and Voluntary Testing)
The Department of Health and Human Services receives PFAS sampling data from private well owners through voluntary sampling and as required through Nantucket’s private well testing regulations. The below table and figure summarize the data that the Town has received from January 1, 2024 through February 26, 2025.
Data were compared to the Massachusetts Maximum Contaminant Level (MMCL) for PFAS6 of 20 ng/L. The MMCL corresponds to PFAS6, which is the sum of the concentrations of the following PFAS: PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, PFNA, PFHpA, and PFDA.
Main takeaways from this dataset:
- PFAS are commonly detected on Nantucket but are also sometimes not detected.
- When PFAS are detected, they mostly do not exceed the PFAS6 MMCL of 20 ng/L.
- Some locations on Nantucket do exceed the PFAS6 MMCL of 20 ng/L, but this is uncommon.
- No samples in this dataset exceeded the imminent hazard threshold of 90 ng/L for PFAS6.
