I also live out in the hills, but am lucky to be on a "collective" well system for a neighborhood that is run by an organization established by the Connecticut legislature. The organization, The Southeastern Connecticut Water Authority (SCWA) was formed in response to a 500 year drought that occurred in the 1960s in New England. They lightly chlorinate the water and do the required tests on water quality. What I wish we had is fluoride, but we are well below the minimum number of customers to require it by regulation.

Rising levels of arsenic have been detected in all of the 5 water wells that serve my small rural community. We are at the top of the chart for what is still considered safe, drinkable water. Arsenic is a known carcinogen and is linked to other serious health problems, and in our case, it is naturally occurring, dissolved from rock layers in the aquifer.

Our community owned and operated water company is mandated to do more frequent testing and reporting to the state. Expensive water treatment equipment is the only way to eliminate it, which our impoverished community can't afford. Instead, homeowners try to mitigate the problem with either whole-house treatment systems, or something less costly at the most used fawcett that provides water for drinking and cooking.

volcano water which has many elements in it including arsenic that comes from the hot subterranean stuff going on down there. Finding the "right" spring is the challenge in my area though there are many wells further out from the caldera. I wonder what the best materials for plumbing would be... not having much experience in that field. I do know that lead pipes were "the thing" for a long time along with brass and copper, all have health drawbacks. Most of the country has toxic water transfer systems so we need to be making a lot of noise about that during this election. New industry standards are required here along with EPA and DEQ rules too.

Our county offers low cost water testing. Test your water at least yearly. Every time a house that's on a private well is sold, the well has to be tested. Our water when last tested was more alkaline... go figure.

determine whether lead is present. Not sure, and perhaps each state/county
has different test criteria. Anyway it's probably a good idea to at least ask if
lead is one of the things tested for.

was in farm country at the bottom of a hill. When we tested there was all kinds of farm chemicals in the water. Most of the people living near us are now on a community water systems and do not drink the water from their wells.

I wonder if the do-nothing Rs would even be willing to see a bill that would provide comprehensive testing across the country both rural and city? I doubt it because knowing the truth would mean doing something to fix it.