Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Sugarloaf Water Association

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.

 

26

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

5

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.250 ppm41ND - 1.000 ppm
2019ND40ND
20200.280 ppm51ND - 1.40 ppm
20210.342 ppm52ND - 1.20 ppm
2022ND30ND
20230.112 ppm51ND - 0.560 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
2018-09-04301809651C1.000 ppm
2018-09-04301809653CND
2018-09-04301809652CND
2018-11-06301812280CND
2019-09-04301909751CND
2019-09-04301909750CND
2019-09-04301909752CND
2019-09-04301909753CND
2020-06-16452000582CND
2020-06-16452000585CND
2020-06-16452000584CND
2020-06-16452000583C1.40 ppm
2020-12-02452001499CND
2021-06-10452100725C0.510 ppm
2021-06-10452100726C1.20 ppm
2021-06-10452100728CND
2021-06-10452100727CND
2021-10-062116626-01ND
2022-12-26452201868CND
2022-12-26452201869CND
2022-12-26452201870CND
2023-06-13452300994C0.560 ppm
2023-06-13452300995CND
2023-06-13452300996CND
2023-06-13452300997CND
2023-11-22452302350CND