Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Butano Canyon Mutual

Nitrate, a fertilizer chemical, frequently contaminates drinking water due to agricultural and urban runoff, and discharges from municipal wastewater treatment plants and septic tanks. Excessive nitrate in water can cause oxygen deprivation in infants and increase the risk of cancer. Click here to read more about nitrate.

 

9

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

2

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND10ND
2019ND10ND
2020ND10ND
2021ND20ND
20220.820 ppm110.820 ppm
20230.0633 ppm31ND - 0.190 ppm

ppm = parts per million

State, National, and Health Guidelines for Drinking Water

EWG Health Guideline: 0.14 ppm

The EWG health guideline of 0.14 parts per million, or ppm, for nitrate and nitrite is based on the equivalent health guideline for nitrate, as defined in a peer-reviewed scientific study by EWG. This guideline represents a one-in-one-million annual cancer risk level.

EPA Maximum Contaminant
Level (MCL): 10 ppm

The legal limit for nitrate, established in 1962, was developed to protect infants from acute methemoglobinemia, a life-threatening disorder of oxygen transport in the body. This limit does not fully protect against the risk of cancer and harm to the developing fetus.

ppm = parts per million

All test results

Date Lab ID Result
2018-01-10CA4100503_001_001-201801101110ND
2019-01-03CA4100503_001_001-201901031115ND
2020-01-09CA4100503_001_001-202001091210ND
2021-01-07CA4100503_001_001-202101071154ND
2021-10-20CA4100503_001_001-202110200845ND
2022-12-14CA4100503_001_001-2022121409300.820 ppm
2023-05-03CA4100503_001_001-2023050307500.190 ppm
2023-11-20CA4100503_002_002-202311201250ND
2023-11-20CA4100503_001_001-202311201300ND