Can you use an outdoor well as your potable water source?

Using an outdoor well as a potable water source is acceptable as long as the water is regularly tested for safety and contamination. Testing at least once a year by a regulatory agency ensures that the water quality meets health and safety standards. This measure is crucial since outdoor wells can be susceptible to various contaminants, including bacteria, nitrates, and other harmful substances from the environment.

Regular testing allows for the early detection of any potential problems, ensuring that the water remains safe for consumption. The regulatory agency's involvement adds an additional layer of validation, as they follow specific protocols to guarantee that the testing is conducted correctly and that results are credible.

The other options suggest conditions that do not provide adequate assurance of water safety. While it may seem feasible to use temperature as a criterion or to lengthen the testing interval to every five years, these approaches could expose consumers to health risks due to untested contamination. Therefore, the emphasis on annual testing is the reason this choice is the correct answer.