USDA well grants and state programs that help pay for well repairs and treatment

The short answer: USDA Rural Development runs two programs that can pay toward a private well, and neither sends a check to a homeowner who fills out a form online. The Section 504 Home Repair program lends up to $40,000 at a fixed 1% to qualifying rural homeowners, and grants up to $10,000 to those 62 or older; you apply at a local Rural Development office. The program still searched for as the Household Water Well System (HWWS) grant is now the Rural Decentralized Water Systems (DWS) Grant Program: USDA gives the grant to private nonprofits, and the nonprofits make the loans (up to $15,000 at 1%) and sometimes subgrants to homeowners. A homeowner applies to the nonprofit, not to USDA.

We opened every program below on its official page on November 4, 2026. Where an official site refused our connection (rd.usda.gov and hud.gov returned HTTP 403), we read the Internet Archive's copy of the official URL and give the capture date. Programs that have closed are labelled closed. Nothing here is a promise of money: each program has its own income, location and contamination tests.

The three USDA routes side by side

A USDA mortgage is a separate program: see USDA loan well requirements.

USDA Section 504 Home Repair loans and grants

USDA's program page, in an Internet Archive capture of October 5, 2026, says the Section 504 program "provides loans to low and very-low-income homeowners to repair, improve or modernize their homes or grants to elderly very-low income homeowners to remove health and safety hazards."

To qualify, the page says you must:

• "Be the homeowner and occupy the house"
• "Be unable to obtain affordable credit elsewhere"
• "Have a household income that does not exceed the low and very-low limit by county"
• "For grants, be age 62 or older and have a household income that does not exceed the very low limit by county"

The money, as the same capture lists it: "Maximum loan is $40,000." "Maximum grant is $10,000." "Loans and grants can be combined for up to $50,000 in assistance." Loans run 20 years at an interest rate "fixed at 1%." Grants have "a lifetime limit of $10,000" and "must be repaid if the property is sold in less than 3 years." The home must be in an eligible rural area, which you check by address on USDA's eligibility site. Applications are accepted year round; "Approval times depend on funding availability in your area."

The income wording changed between mid-August and late September 2026

Older guides say 504 loans are for very low-income homeowners only. USDA's own page said so until recently. The Internet Archive's capture of the same USDA page on August 14, 2026 read "loans to very-low-income homeowners" and an income test of "the very low limit by county." By the September 26, 2026 capture, both lines said "low and very-low." USDA's page also dropped its disaster-area figures ($15,000 grant, $55,000 combined) in that window; we found no notice explaining why. If you are in a declared disaster area, ask the local office.

The current text of 7 CFR 3550.103(c) on eCFR (as of November 1, 2026) still says the household's adjusted income "must not exceed the applicable very low-income limit." We found no Federal Register notice explaining the change. If your income falls between the two limits, ask the local office which one applies before you count on a loan.

What a 504 grant can and can't pay for

Under 7 CFR 3550.102, grant funds "may be used only to pay costs for repairs and improvements that will remove identified health and safety hazards" (or to make a home accessible for a household member with disabilities). Loan funds can also pay for "general repairs and improvements." Neither may "assist in the construction of a new dwelling," so 504 can't pay for the well on a house you are building; see our new well cost guide for that case.

Neither USDA's page nor the regulation names wells. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) does: its well-sealing financial assistance page (updated September 25, 2025) says the USDA program "offers loans and grants for home water treatment and well construction, repair, and sealing." MDH also describes the income line as not exceeding "50 percent of the median county income." Whether a particular well problem counts as a health and safety hazard is the local office's call, so bring your lab report.

The Household Water Well System grant is now the Decentralized Water Systems program

The searches still say HWWS. Grants.gov shows USDA's last "Household Water Well" announcement in 2020 (RDRUS-20-01-HWWS); from 2021 the listings are titled Rural Decentralized Water System (DWS) Grant Program. Both run under 7 CFR Part 1776, first published in 2005 (70 FR 28788), whose purpose section, as amended in April 2020, covers household water well systems and decentralized wastewater (septic) systems.

Who applies: not you. Section 1776.1 says the program is for "making grants to private nonprofit organizations for the purpose of providing loans and subgrants to eligible individuals." USDA's DWS page (Internet Archive capture, October 25, 2026) says the grant goes "to qualified nonprofits, including tribally owned nonprofits, to create a revolving loan fund or to award sub-grants to homeowners," and tells homeowners seeking a loan to contact one of the current grantees listed under its Contact tab.

What a homeowner can borrow: 7 CFR 1776.15 sets DWS loans at an interest rate of 1 percent, "a term not to exceed 20 years," and no more than "$15,000 for each water well system." To be a loan recipient, under 1776.14 you must:

• be an "eligible individual," defined in 1776.3 as a household whose combined income "is not more than 60 percent of the median nonmetropolitan household income for the State or territory in which the individual resides";
• own and occupy the home (or be buying it under a land purchase contract not in default);
• live in a rural area, which 1776.3 defines as outside cities and towns over 50,000 people and their urbanized areas;
• not be building a new home: the well "may not be associated with the construction of a new dwelling"; and
• not be using the well "to substitute for water service available from collective water systems."

Can it pay for treatment? Partly. The FY2026 notice of funding says funds cover work "up to the point of entry to the residence," and "In certain circumstances where ground well water contamination is documented, funding may be used to complete work beyond the point of entry to the residence." Section 1776.12(d) says that in the event of contamination, USDA "shall allow a loan or subgrant ... for the installation of water treatment where needed beyond the point of entry." That makes a lab report showing contamination the key document for a treatment loan.

FY2026 funding and the current grantee list

USDA ran two DWS rounds for fiscal 2026 on Grants.gov: RDRUS-26-DWS (open October 1 to December 1, 2025, estimated $6 million) and RDRUS-26-DWS2 (open July 28 to September 30, 2026, estimated $11 million, of which $1 million is for septic subgrants). The second notice gives an anticipated award date of "Winter 2026" and a performance period of January 1 to December 31, 2027. Both rounds are closed; homeowners borrow from nonprofits that hold funds.

The "List of Current Grantees" linked from USDA's October 2026 page is a file titled "Rural Decentralized Water System (DWS) FY 2024 Grantees" (we read the Internet Archive capture of September 29, 2025). It names six organizations and their service areas:

The list predates the fiscal 2026 awards, so it may be incomplete. Under 1776.15(e), each nonprofit sets subgrant amounts "based on established criteria described in the workplan." USDA's grant manager mailbox (Water-RD@usda.gov, from the Grants.gov listing) and your state Rural Development office can say who serves your county. We list them because USDA does, not as a recommendation.

Other federal money that reaches wells through someone else

• USDA Housing Preservation Grants. USDA's FY2025 notice (Federal Register, August 5, 2025) offered funds to "qualified entities (such as public agencies, private non-profit organizations, and federally recognized Tribes) to provide grants or low-interest loans to eligible recipients to repair or rehabilitate housing in rural areas." The program rule, 7 CFR 1944.664, lists "installation and/or repair of sanitary water and waste disposal systems" as authorized work. USDA's FY2026 round (Grants.gov USDA-RD-HCFP-HPG-2026) ran August 6 to September 8, 2026 and is closed; organizations that won awards make the loans and grants.
• EPA emerging-contaminants grants. EPA's EC-SDC page (updated November 3, 2026) says that in March 2024 Congress included "owners of drinking water wells that are not public water systems or connected to a public water system" as eligible beneficiaries of funds awarded to states since FY24. "Grants will be awarded non‐competitively to states and territories," which then fund projects in small communities (under 10,000 people) or in disadvantaged communities as the state defines them, so you reach this money through a state program, not EPA.
• HUD Community Development Block Grants. HUD Notice CPD-2023-10 (issued October 26, 2023; Internet Archive capture of October 12, 2026) says "the installation or replacement of a well water system or septic waste disposal system on a private residential property is eligible when it is a part of the rehabilitation of the property." CDBG money goes to state and local government grantees, so ask your county's housing or community development office whether it runs a home repair program.

State programs we verified

Status is as each official page read on November 4, 2026.

The Maine note: MaineHousing's page carries no funding warning. The Maine Monitor, a news outlet, reported on August 17, 2026 that the program "has spent over $385,000 of its $400,000" and that lawmakers "did not introduce any legislation to fund" it in their latest session. Ask MaineHousing whether it can still take applications.

Iowa's figures cap the actual cost; the county also gets an administrative fee. The guidance says "Wells contaminated with nitrate only" don't qualify for rehabilitation money, and the county must be contacted before work starts. Its free testing is in our free well water testing guide.

Pennsylvania and Vermont: check before you plan on it

Penn State Extension's funding article (updated October 13, 2025) lists PHFA's Keystone Renovate and Repair Loan for improvements "including private well and septic systems." PHFA's own repair-loan page, in an Internet Archive capture of March 2, 2026, no longer lists that loan, and its PENNVEST program covers septic and sewer, not wells. phfa.org didn't answer our connection on November 4, 2026, so we could not confirm a current statewide Pennsylvania loan for wells.

Vermont's health department funding page (updated January 29, 2026) lists the state's On-Site Loan Program for a "failed" drinking water supply, for year-round residents earning under 200% of Vermont's median household income. The larger ANR Healthy Homes On-Site grant (up to $30,000) "is no longer accepting new pre-qualification submissions."

What each program asks you to prove

Most of these programs pay only after a test shows a problem, and several say who must take it, so a store-kit result may not count. Who pays for that first test is covered in our free testing guide.

Wisconsin's arsenic line is five times EPA's limit for public water systems, 0.010 mg/L (10 µg/L) under 40 CFR 141.62, a rule that doesn't apply to private wells. A well at 30 µg/L may be worth treating and still not qualify for that grant. To match a result to a system, use treatment by test result.

Which program to try first

Worked example: a 70-year-old in Oneida County, Wisconsin

A widow, 70, on a rural lot gets two certified-lab results showing arsenic at 0.062 mg/L (62 µg/L). Her income is under her county's very low limit.

1. Wisconsin first. 62 µg/L clears the DNR's "at or exceeding 50 ug/l" line. If her family income was $65,000 or less, she can file Form 8700-174 for 75% of eligible costs, at most $12,000 (less if family income was above $45,000). Treatment equipment counts only "if no other option is feasible," and nothing done before the approval letter is paid.
2. USDA 504 for her share. At 70 she meets the grant's age rule. If the local office treats the arsenic as a health and safety hazard, she may qualify for up to $10,000 in grant, and a 1% loan beyond that. The grant must be repaid if she sells within three years.
3. DWS as another lender. Oneida County is in Newcap's listed service area. If her income is within the DWS limit and the nonprofit has funds, documented contamination means a DWS loan of up to $15,000 may cover treatment beyond the point of entry.

No page we read says how these combine, so tell each office in writing what the others are paying.

Programs that have ended or closed

• Vermont ANR Healthy Homes On-Site: no new pre-qualification submissions; forms were due September 3, 2025.
• USDA DWS and Housing Preservation Grant rounds: closed to the organizations that apply (DWS September 30, 2026; HPG September 8, 2026).

Before you sign anything

• Get approval first. Wisconsin: "Work completed before receiving the approval letter will not be reimbursed." Minnesota's MDH: "Preapproval is required for all of these programs." Iowa wants the county contacted before work starts. New York's rebate requires the work to be finished within six months of the eligibility letter.
• Use the license the program names. Wisconsin's award steps send you to a licensed well driller or licensed pump installer. Iowa says wells "must be plugged by an Iowa Certified Well Contractor," or by the homeowner under the county health specialist's supervision.
• Ask about taxes. Wisconsin says its grant "is considered taxable income by the IRS."
• Budget for upkeep. New York says "Maintenance costs and sales tax are not covered in your rebate"; MaineHousing excludes "replacement filters or system maintenance."
• Know what the test will cost. If no program covers testing, see our testing cost guide for official lab prices.

Most of these programs start from a certified lab result. Find labs certified for arsenic in your state, or search the full lab finder for bacteria, nitrate or PFAS.

Questions people ask