Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Buffumville Heights Estates Condominium

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.

 

18

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

15

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.424 ppm330.246 ppm - 0.636 ppm
20190.304 ppm330.220 ppm - 0.400 ppm
20200.139 ppm32ND - 0.265 ppm
20210.245 ppm330.161 ppm - 0.292 ppm
20220.195 ppm32ND - 0.362 ppm
20230.229 ppm32ND - 0.351 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
2018-04-230.636 ppm
2018-04-230.246 ppm
2018-04-230.391 ppm
2019-04-150.292 ppm
2019-04-150.400 ppm
2019-04-150.220 ppm
2020-05-180.152 ppm
2020-05-18ND
2020-05-180.265 ppm
2021-04-190.292 ppm
2021-04-190.283 ppm
2021-04-190.161 ppm
2022-04-130.362 ppm
2022-04-130.224 ppm
2022-04-13ND
2023-04-110.351 ppm
2023-04-11ND
2023-04-110.336 ppm