Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

City of Troy

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.

 

16

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

11

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.335 ppm220.0300 ppm - 0.640 ppm
20190.490 ppm21ND - 0.980 ppm
20200.650 ppm21ND - 1.30 ppm
20210.460 ppm21ND - 0.920 ppm
20220.610 ppm330.290 ppm - 0.860 ppm
20230.570 ppm550.0500 ppm - 1.000 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
2018-01-17AE090860.640 ppm
2018-04-10AE217870.0300 ppm
2019-04-01AE605930.980 ppm
2019-04-01AE60595ND
2020-04-29AF08549ND
2020-04-29AF085501.30 ppm
2021-04-08AF494110.920 ppm
2021-08-05AF64908ND
2022-08-02AG072100.290 ppm
2022-11-21AG192720.680 ppm
2022-11-21AG193150.860 ppm
2023-02-08AG278420.0500 ppm
2023-02-08AG278440.680 ppm
2023-04-05AG354860.890 ppm
2023-08-21AG531270.230 ppm
2023-12-04AG651211.000 ppm