Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Saegertown Borough

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.

 

36

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

23

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.792 ppm65ND - 1.71 ppm
20190.865 ppm660.240 ppm - 2.24 ppm
20200.242 ppm61ND - 1.45 ppm
20210.775 ppm65ND - 1.69 ppm
20220.750 ppm63ND - 1.61 ppm
20230.730 ppm63ND - 1.82 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
2018-07-10159759011.71 ppm
2018-07-10159759020.840 ppm
2018-07-10159759061.59 ppm
2018-07-10159759030.450 ppm
2018-07-10159759040.160 ppm
2018-07-1015975905ND
2019-07-01166523050.240 ppm
2019-07-01166523012.24 ppm
2019-07-01166523060.900 ppm
2019-07-01166523040.260 ppm
2019-07-01166523030.560 ppm
2019-07-01166523020.990 ppm
2020-07-0722722693.001.45 ppm
2020-07-0722722692.00ND
2020-07-0722722690.00ND
2020-07-0722722691.00ND
2020-07-0722722688.00ND
2020-07-0722722689.00ND
2021-08-0325142007.001.16 ppm
2021-08-0325142013.001.18 ppm
2021-08-0325142011.00ND
2021-08-0325142005.001.69 ppm
2021-08-0325142015.000.230 ppm
2021-08-0325142009.000.390 ppm
2022-07-0527156306.00ND
2022-07-0527156304.00ND
2022-07-0527156308.00ND
2022-07-0527156300.001.61 ppm
2022-07-0527156310.001.46 ppm
2022-07-0527156302.001.43 ppm
2023-07-0629419554.00ND
2023-07-0629419552.00ND
2023-07-0629419556.00ND
2023-07-0629419550.001.22 ppm
2023-07-0629419558.001.34 ppm
2023-07-0629419548.001.82 ppm