Wellkept is written and built by El Bachir El Ouali, an independent software developer. It started with a simple problem: if your water comes from a private well, nobody tests it, nobody sends you a report, and nobody reminds you when something is due. That job is yours, and almost nothing available made it easy.
The site publishes practical guides for well owners. The app does the record-keeping — test results, treatment, maintenance dates — on your phone, with no account and no cloud.
How these guides are researched
Every regulatory figure in these articles — contaminant limits, treatment standards, lender setback distances — comes from a primary source, and each guide lists the sources it drew on at the bottom of the page. Where the guidance is:
- Drinking water limits: the US Environmental Protection Agency's National Primary and Secondary Drinking Water Regulations.
- Health guidance: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's private well resources.
- Treatment equipment standards: NSF/ANSI certification classes.
- Property and lending requirements: HUD's Single Family Housing Policy Handbook and related mortgagee letters.
- Groundwater and hydrology: the US Geological Survey.
Where a number is genuinely variable — installed equipment costs, regional water chemistry, contractor rates — it is given as a range and labelled as an estimate, not stated as a fact. Where a figure has been superseded or is contested, the guide says so rather than picking the convenient version.
What Wellkept is not
These guides are educational. They are not a substitute for testing by an accredited laboratory, and they are not professional advice — not from a licensed well contractor, a water treatment professional, a physician, a lender, or an attorney.
No article on this site can tell you whether your water is safe. Only a laboratory analysing your sample can do that. What these guides can do is help you understand the result when it arrives, ask better questions of the people you hire, and know what to test for in the first place.
If a guide contradicts your local health authority, your local health authority is right. Rules vary by state and county, and the local ones are frequently stricter than the federal minimums quoted here.
How this site makes money
Two ways, both stated plainly:
- Affiliate links. Some guides link to equipment and test kits. If you buy through one, Wellkept may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Recommendations are not sold — no manufacturer pays for placement here, and nothing is recommended that would not be installed on our own well.
- The app. Free to download, with optional one-time purchases. No subscription. Logging results, safety verdicts and test reminders are free permanently, because safety should not sit behind a paywall.
Corrections
If you find an error — a misquoted limit, an outdated standard, a treatment recommendation that does not hold up — please write. Corrections are made promptly and these guides are updated as standards change. Email support@wellkeptwell.com.