Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

Nitrate

Snoqualmie Water

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.

 

11

Samples

0

Samples exceeding legal limit (MCL)

5

Samples exceeding
health guidelines

Testing results - average by year

 
YearAverage resultSamples takenDetectionsRange of results
20180.233 ppm31ND - 0.700 ppm
20190.215 ppm21ND - 0.430 ppm
2020N/A00N/A
20210.210 ppm21ND - 0.420 ppm
20220.290 ppm21ND - 0.580 ppm
20230.240 ppm21ND - 0.480 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
2018-03-27ND
2018-03-270.700 ppm
2018-08-08ND
2019-04-170.430 ppm
2019-05-08ND
2021-06-0241226240.420 ppm
2021-06-024122623ND
2022-06-0742935050.580 ppm
2022-06-074293507ND
2023-06-2144701420.480 ppm
2023-06-214470141ND