Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Timken, 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.

 

16

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

12

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.438 ppm440.170 ppm - 0.700 ppm
20190.210 ppm220.210 ppm
2020ND20ND
20210.660 ppm440.620 ppm - 0.680 ppm
2022ND20ND
20230.570 ppm220.560 ppm - 0.580 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
2018-04-239386110.170 ppm
2018-04-239386120.180 ppm
2018-06-209909880.700 ppm
2018-06-209909890.700 ppm
2019-07-1512037180.210 ppm
2019-07-1512037190.210 ppm
2020-06-231414915ND
2020-06-231414916ND
2021-04-1118211720.670 ppm
2021-04-1118211730.680 ppm
2021-07-1418842290.670 ppm
2021-07-1418842300.620 ppm
2022-06-202283406ND
2022-06-212283405ND
2023-06-2725253190.580 ppm
2023-06-2725253200.560 ppm