Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Liberty Correctional Institution

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.

 

30

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

3

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.133 ppm330.1000 ppm - 0.160 ppm
20191.64 ppm72ND - 6.44 ppm
2020ND50ND
2021ND50ND
20220.0343 ppm41ND - 0.137 ppm
2023ND60ND

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 Result
2018-05-220.1000 ppm
2018-05-220.160 ppm
2018-05-220.140 ppm
2019-05-22ND
2019-05-22ND
2019-05-22ND
2019-10-026.44 ppm
2019-10-02ND
2019-10-025.03 ppm
2019-12-19ND
2020-01-21ND
2020-01-21ND
2020-01-21ND
2020-04-22ND
2020-11-10ND
2021-09-15ND
2021-09-21ND
2021-09-21ND
2021-09-21ND
2021-11-10ND
2022-03-24ND
2022-03-24ND
2022-03-24ND
2022-04-270.137 ppm
2023-02-15ND
2023-02-15ND
2023-02-15ND
2023-06-22ND
2023-06-22ND
2023-06-22ND