Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Bingen Water Department

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)

4

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.0867 ppm31ND - 0.260 ppm
20190.0833 ppm31ND - 0.250 ppm
2020N/A00N/A
20210.0675 ppm41ND - 0.270 ppm
2022ND30ND
20230.0957 ppm31ND - 0.287 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
2018-05-08ND
2018-06-06ND
2018-06-060.260 ppm
2019-05-21ND
2019-06-10ND
2019-06-100.250 ppm
2021-05-254120562ND
2021-06-0941249940.270 ppm
2021-06-094124993ND
2021-06-094210270ND
2022-05-184281371ND
2022-06-134293380ND
2022-06-134293381ND
2023-05-224452144ND
2023-06-064461575ND
2023-09-1945246430.287 ppm