Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Riverbridge

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)

28

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.674 ppm54ND - 1.10 ppm
20190.884 ppm550.200 ppm - 1.50 ppm
20200.796 ppm550.160 ppm - 1.31 ppm
20210.596 ppm550.180 ppm - 0.940 ppm
20220.576 ppm550.150 ppm - 0.910 ppm
20230.422 ppm54ND - 0.640 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 Result
2018-12-190.830 ppm
2018-12-19ND
2018-12-190.870 ppm
2018-12-190.570 ppm
2018-12-191.10 ppm
2019-06-250.960 ppm
2019-06-250.820 ppm
2019-06-251.50 ppm
2019-06-250.940 ppm
2019-06-250.200 ppm
2020-05-260.900 ppm
2020-05-260.840 ppm
2020-05-260.160 ppm
2020-05-260.770 ppm
2020-05-261.31 ppm
2021-06-020.940 ppm
2021-06-020.180 ppm
2021-06-020.630 ppm
2021-06-020.550 ppm
2021-06-020.680 ppm
2022-04-220.150 ppm
2022-04-220.590 ppm
2022-04-220.700 ppm
2022-04-220.910 ppm
2022-04-220.530 ppm
2023-04-05ND
2023-04-050.430 ppm
2023-04-050.510 ppm
2023-04-050.640 ppm
2023-04-050.530 ppm