Help paying for well and septic repairs
If a test finds a problem you can't afford to fix, start with USDA's home repair program if you live in a rural area, then your state.
USDA Section 504 Home Repair
It "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." (USDA Rural Development)
- Loans up to $40,000, fixed at 1% for 20 years.
- Grants up to $10,000 if you are 62 or older with very low income. Grants "must be used to remove health and safety hazards."
- You must own and live in the house, be "unable to obtain affordable credit elsewhere," and meet the income limit for your county.
- Rural areas only. USDA's eligibility site checks your address.
- Apply year round through your local USDA Rural Development office.
USDA page read October 2, 2026, which listed the application window as open.
State programs
- California: Santa Cruz County, Water Quality Assistance Services
- Delaware: Delaware DNREC, Septic Rehabilitation Grant Program (SRGP)
- Iowa: Iowa HHS, Private Well Grants Program
- Maryland: University of Maryland Extension, Financial Resources for Septic Systems (Maryland Bay Restoration Fund)
- Minnesota: Rehabilitation Loan/Emergency and Accessibility Loan Program
- Pennsylvania: PENNVEST Homeowner Sewage Program (low-cost septic repair loans)
- Vermont: On-site Loan Program
- Virginia: Virginia DHCD, Indoor Plumbing Rehabilitation Flex Program (IPR Flex)
- Wisconsin: Wisconsin DNR, Well Compensation Grant Program
Not listed? Ask your county health department. Some states also help when PFAS is found in a well: see which.
Lead paint in the home
These programs remove lead paint hazards for free or at low cost. Most limit help by income, and some to homes with young children.
- Illinois: Chicago, Healthy Homes Grant Program
- Massachusetts: Get the Lead Out (GTLO) Loan Program
- New Jersey: Lead Assistance Programs (DCA)
- Ohio: Cincinnati, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) HUD Lead Hazard Reduction Grant
- Pennsylvania: Reading, Lead Hazard Control Program (LHCP)
- Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Lead and Healthy Homes Program
- Rhode Island: LeadSafe Homes Program
- Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Home Environmental Health Lead Hazard Reduction Program
American Indian and Alaska Native homes
The Indian Health Service's Sanitation Facilities Construction Program "provides American Indian and Alaska Native homes and communities with essential water supply, sewage disposal, and solid waste disposal facilities." Ask your tribe's environmental or housing office. (Indian Health Service)
City water and lead pipes
Ask your water utility. EPA's rule requires water systems to replace lead pipes within 10 years. How it works
Find a water test · What fixes what
State links checked October 2, 2026. Programs run out of money and close. Check the official page before you apply.