Real Estate Professionals as Private Well Partners

A Practice from the Minnesota Department of Health
For Public Health

At a glance

Use this practice to increase private well testing when homes are sold. Minnesota created a webpage, brochure, and online course with continuing education hours to increase outreach to real estate professionals.

Real estate professional in front of a home with homebuyers

Background

In Minnesota, approximately 1.2 million people rely on private wells for drinking water. The state does not require well water to be tested for contaminants. Only one county requires testing when homes are sold.

Every year, the Minnesota Department of Health receives approximately 1,500 inquiries from real estate professionals. These professionals frequently serve as the first point of contact for prospective private well owners. Consequently, real estate professionals are positioned to provide initial guidance on well use, maintenance, and testing. The health department collaborated with real estate professionals to increase their knowledge and awareness about private well stewardship.

Key actions

The Minnesota Department of Health informed real estate professionals about private well issues through the following actions:

  • Creating an online course on private wells, with free continuing education credits applicable towards real estate licensure
  • Developing and providing a brochure about buying or selling a home with a private well
  • Creating a webpage on private wells for real estate professionals

Using this practice

We selected this practice as an example of environmental public health successfully applied in the field. We based our selection on the following four domains:

  • Effectiveness: Did it solve or help solve the environmental health problem?
  • Feasibility: What conditions and resources are needed to use it?
  • Sustainability: Is it realistically able to continue going forward?
  • Transferability: Could other health departments use it with little to no changes?

Effectiveness

The health department based their practice on the Health Belief Model. This established framework suggests that "cues to action" help people choose health-related behaviors. Purchasing a home is one such cue that can be used to encourage a buyer to test their private well water.

The practice was also effective in reducing staff burden of answering nearly 1,500 inquiries from real estate professionals a year.

Feasibility

Based on Minnesota's experience, other health departments interested in this practice may need the following capacity:

  • Knowledge of course development
  • Ability to use learning management software
  • Ability to offer continuing education credits to real estate professionals
  • Knowledge of their state's private well regulations
  • Ability to partner with real estate professionals
  • Knowledge of communication strategies to reach intended audiences

Sustainability

To maintain this practice, the health department took the following actions:

  • Reviewed the materials (course, webpage, and brochure) periodically to ensure information is up to date
  • Collected and reviewed surveys to ensure the course is meeting its objectives
  • Completed the requirements for offering continuing education credits, including reporting course completions to the appropriate authority
  • Had funding or capacity to print and ship brochures to fulfill orders

Transferability

Programs interested in this practice should consider the following factors:

  • The ability to host courses on a learning management platform
  • The ability to offer continuing education credits for course completions
  • State-specific geologic conditions, well standards, and private well testing regulations

Minnesota has supplemental funding from a state sales tax to help fund projects and positions related to water resources and drinking water. Other programs may need to leverage other funding sources to support this practice.

Successes and challenges

Real estate professionals who completed the online course reported being much more likely to recommend well testing when homes are sold.

If homebuyers learn about the reasons for well testing, it can increase their understanding of the benefits of well testing in preventing exposures that could affect their family.

Connections to Essential Services

Documenting how programs contribute to the Essential Public Health Services may help health departments in the accreditation process with the Public Health Accreditation Board. The activities in this practice support and align with these services:

  • Educate (3)
  • Strengthen communities and partnerships (4)
  • Improve or innovate (9)

Resources

Minnesota Department of Health

Citation

In citing this practice in articles, presentations, or elsewhere, we suggest the following citation:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Environmental Health. Environmental Public Health Practices Gateway. Real estate professionals as private well partners: A practice from the Minnesota Department of Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, 2026, https://www.cdc.gov/environmental-health-practice/php/gateway/real-estate-professionals-as-private-well-partners.html.

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Content Source:
National Center for Environmental Health