Nitrate in Drinking Water
 

      The Nitrate Elimination Co., Inc.
    Green Chemistry for Nitrate Detection
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As stated in the EPA publication "Is Your Drinking Water Safe?" (1): "Only two substances for which standards have been set pose an immediate threat to health whenever they are exceeded: bacteria and nitrate." In addition, high nitrate levels in water and feed lead to reduced vitality and increased stillbirth, low birth weight, and slow weight gain in livestock (2). Nitrate level is monitored in municipal water supplies world-wide, and in foodstuffs, to prevent exposure of populations to harmful or toxic levels. Monitoring private wells and other sources of drinking water is up to the individual owner.

Nitrate in Drinking Water is regulated in the US by two acts of Congress.

EPA Safe Drinking Water Act: http://www.epa.gov

Clean Water Act: http://www.epa.gov/region5/water/cwa.htm 

The Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) is 10 ppm nitrate-N.

In California and the EU this is translated into 44 ppm Nitrate.
 

Test your drinking water to find out if it is safe:

Order an inexpensive and accurate NECi Nitrate Test Kit (NTK):

Home NTK or Water NTK

More Info: Human Health Risk due to Nitrate in Drinking Water

References:

1. US EPA Office of Water (WH-550) "Is Your Drinking Water Safe?" EPA 570 9-91-005, Sept. 91. This document is no longer available on epa.gov website.

2. Committee on Nitrate Accumulation, Ag. Board, Div. Of Biology & Agriculture, National Research Council (1972) Hazards of Nitrate, Nitrite, and Nitrosoamines to Man and Livestock. In: Accumulation of Nitrate, National Academy of Sciences, Wash., DC, pp. 46-75