Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Pepperell DPW Water Division

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)

21

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.716 ppm54ND - 1.50 ppm
20191.04 ppm550.0900 ppm - 2.10 ppm
20200.794 ppm550.0600 ppm - 1.80 ppm
20210.756 ppm76ND - 1.79 ppm
20220.150 ppm110.150 ppm
20230.681 ppm76ND - 1.58 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
2018-04-02ND
2018-04-020.470 ppm
2018-04-021.10 ppm
2018-04-020.510 ppm
2018-04-021.50 ppm
2019-05-060.0900 ppm
2019-05-060.430 ppm
2019-05-062.10 ppm
2019-05-062.10 ppm
2019-05-060.470 ppm
2020-06-021.80 ppm
2020-06-020.0600 ppm
2020-06-020.450 ppm
2020-06-021.27 ppm
2020-06-020.390 ppm
2021-05-120.670 ppm
2021-05-121.50 ppm
2021-05-121.20 ppm
2021-05-121.79 ppm
2021-08-170.0500 ppm
2021-08-170.0800 ppm
2021-08-17ND
2022-07-260.150 ppm
2023-04-040.0800 ppm
2023-04-04ND
2023-04-040.380 ppm
2023-04-041.46 ppm
2023-04-041.21 ppm
2023-04-040.0600 ppm
2023-04-041.58 ppm