Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Osawatomie, City of

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.

 

14

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

12

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.190 ppm220.190 ppm
20190.660 ppm220.590 ppm - 0.730 ppm
20200.530 ppm220.530 ppm
20210.590 ppm220.580 ppm - 0.600 ppm
20220.765 ppm220.550 ppm - 0.980 ppm
20230.368 ppm42ND - 0.740 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
2018-05-229742370.190 ppm
2018-05-229743410.190 ppm
2019-05-2111577070.730 ppm
2019-05-2111577100.590 ppm
2020-05-0413672420.530 ppm
2020-05-0413672430.530 ppm
2021-05-1018355810.600 ppm
2021-05-1018355840.580 ppm
2022-05-0322474930.550 ppm
2022-05-1222565130.980 ppm
2023-05-042492618ND
2023-05-042492621ND
2023-11-0926084120.740 ppm
2023-11-0926084130.730 ppm