Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Hildale - Colorado City

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.

 

12

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

5

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
2018ND20ND
20190.462 ppm220.159 ppm - 0.765 ppm
20200.0622 ppm21ND - 0.124 ppm
20210.240 ppm220.123 ppm - 0.356 ppm
20220.0774 ppm21ND - 0.155 ppm
20230.205 ppm21ND - 0.409 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
2018-09-09ND
2018-09-09ND
2019-08-220.159 ppm
2019-08-220.765 ppm
2020-07-270.124 ppm
2020-07-27ND
2021-08-260.356 ppm
2021-08-260.123 ppm
2022-07-19ND
2022-07-190.155 ppm
2023-08-24ND
2023-08-240.409 ppm