Arsenic & Uranium in Nova Scotia Well Water
You can’t see them, smell them, or taste them. A lab test can find them.Arsenic and uranium occur naturally in Nova Scotia bedrock, and from there they can dissolve quietly into a well’s supply. Water carrying either one looks, smells, and tastes completely normal.
That’s the unsettling part. The reassuring part is that both are very treatable, and we’ve been proving it across Nova Scotia and Cape Breton since 2000. It starts with a certified lab test.
Invisible, tasteless, and serious
Most water problems give themselves away with a stain, a smell, or an off taste. These two give you nothing at all, and that silence is exactly why they deserve a spot on every well owner’s radar.
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Arsenic
A known carcinogen that occurs naturally in Nova Scotia bedrock and dissolves into well water without leaving a trace your senses can catch. A glass poured from an affected well looks, smells, and tastes exactly like one you’d happily drink, which is how it goes unnoticed for years.
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Uranium
Uranium is found naturally in rock, and from that rock it can leach into a well’s supply. Like arsenic, it changes nothing about the water in your glass: no metallic taste, no odour, no discolouration. A special lab test is the only way to determine whether it’s present.
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Only a test will tell you
There’s no symptom to watch for here, so waiting for one simply doesn’t work. A certified lab analysis is the one way arsenic and uranium show themselves, which is why every job we take on starts with testing rather than guesswork.
Why Nova Scotia wells are at risk
Most private wells in this province are drilled straight into bedrock, and Nova Scotia’s bedrock naturally holds both arsenic and uranium. As groundwater moves through fractures in that rock, it can carry traces of each into your supply. Every well draws from its own depth and its own fractures, so a neighbour’s clean result tells you nothing about your own.
That geology is why NS Environment recommends checking your well’s water chemistry every couple of years, on top of testing for bacteria about twice a year. Levels can shift slowly over a well’s life, and a periodic lab test is the only way you’d ever know.
A chemistry test is due if
- Your well has never been tested for arsenic or uranium
- It’s been a couple of years since your last chemistry test
- You’ve just moved into a home that runs on a well
- Your well was recently drilled, deepened, or repaired
Our track record with both
Treating arsenic and uranium is precision work, and it rewards experience. We’ve been solving Nova Scotia’s problem water since 2000, and in that time we have successfully treated arsenic at levels as high as 1390 µg/L.
We’re the only authorized EcoWater dealer in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, serving the whole province from our shop in Waverley. Every system we recommend is sized against a certified lab report, and Gary Slater and the team carry the credentials to back the advice.
The credentials behind the work
- NS Environment Water Treatment Class I
- Canadian Water Quality Association (CWQA) member
- Authorized EcoWater dealer for Nova Scotia & Cape Breton
How we fix it
There’s no one-size arsenic system or uranium system; there’s the right system for your levels. The lab report tells us which of these your water calls for.
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Certified lab testing, handled
Arsenic and uranium need specialized analysis, so we refer your sample for certified lab testing and get you precise numbers. From taking the sample to going over the report at your kitchen table, the whole process runs through us.
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Reverse osmosis for drinking water
An under-counter reverse osmosis system removes arsenic and uranium from the water your family drinks and cooks with, and improves its taste through carbon filtration while it’s at it.
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Whole-home options for higher levels
When the numbers call for more than a drinking-water tap, we scale up: salt- and chemical-free whole-home filtration for arsenic, or a strong-base anion resin paired with a softener for uranium. The levels decide the system, never the other way around.
Arsenic and uranium, answered
How do I know if my well water has arsenic or uranium in it?
You can’t tell from the water itself: both are invisible, tasteless, and odourless at any level. The only way to know is a certified lab test. We handle the sampling and the lab referral for you, then walk you through exactly what the report means.
How do you remove arsenic from well water?
It depends on the lab numbers. A point-of-use reverse osmosis system protects your drinking and cooking water, and salt- and chemical-free whole-home filtration handles higher levels. We have successfully treated arsenic at levels as high as 1390 µg/L.
How do you remove uranium from well water?
A reverse osmosis system covers the drinking water side, while a strong-base anion resin paired with a water softener can treat the whole home. Your lab results decide which route makes sense, so testing always comes first.
How often should I test a Nova Scotia well for arsenic and uranium?
NS Environment recommends checking your well’s water chemistry every couple of years, and testing for bacteria about twice a year. Arsenic and uranium testing is lab-referred, so the lab fee isn’t part of our standard test; if you perform your water test with us and buy a system, we credit your standard testing fee back toward it.
What Our Customers Say
One Lab Test Settles It
If arsenic or uranium is in your well, a certified test will find it, and we’ll match the fix to the numbers. Book yours today.