Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Cheney, City of

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.

 

28

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

3

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.0687 ppm61ND - 0.412 ppm
20190.450 ppm61ND - 2.70 ppm
2020N/A00N/A
20210.0717 ppm71ND - 0.502 ppm
20220.0208 ppm51ND - 0.104 ppm
2023ND40ND

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
2018-07-17ND
2018-09-120.412 ppm
2018-09-12ND
2018-09-12ND
2018-09-12ND
2018-09-12ND
2019-01-08ND
2019-05-14ND
2019-08-23ND
2019-09-112.70 ppm
2019-09-11ND
2019-09-11ND
2021-06-294134910ND
2021-07-204195299ND
2021-07-2041952980.502 ppm
2021-07-204195300ND
2021-07-274159876ND
2021-08-104159810ND
2021-12-084215599ND
2022-07-224319395ND
2022-07-2243193940.104 ppm
2022-07-274338100ND
2022-08-164379697ND
2022-09-274373027ND
2023-07-194486526ND
2023-07-194486525ND
2023-07-194486527ND
2023-09-064512940ND