Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Bear Mountain Water Supply

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.

 

8

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

0

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.136 ppm110.136 ppm
2019ND10ND
20200.0177 ppm31ND - 0.0530 ppm
2021ND10ND
20220.116 ppm110.116 ppm
20230.129 ppm110.129 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
2018-01-31NO3 01311808-10.136 ppm
2019-12-26NO3 12261906: 1ND
2020-07-01NO3 07012010A: 90.0530 ppm
2020-07-01NO3 07012010A: 10ND
2020-07-01NO3 07012010A: 6ND
2021-12-28NO3 12282107ND
2022-12-08NO3 120822130.116 ppm
2023-11-29NO3 112923070.129 ppm