Nitrate in Well Water
What is nitrate?
Nitrate is a chemical often found in the environment. Nitrate in well water is usually due to run-off or fertilizer used on farms. Nitrate is also found in smoked foods, such as bacon.
Nitrate by itself is harmless. Bacteria in the stomach can change the nitrate into nitrite.
What can nitrite do to me?
In babies, especially those under six months, more nitrite is made by their stomachs. This nitrite combines with blood so that less oxygen is available. This disease is called methemoglobinemia, or "blue baby." This disease is serious, because the baby's brain can be hurt by the lack of oxygen.
What can I do?
- Test your well water (Municipal water is tested routinely). Pick up a bottle from a private laboratory. KFL&A Public Health can provide you with a list of local laboratories.
- If your water has between 4 mg/l and 10mg/l, test your water again. You may want to restrict well water use or talk to our public health inspectors.
- If your water has more than 10 mg/l of nitrate:
- do not boil your water to get rid of nitrates. Boiling does not change the chemical, and it concentrates the nitrate more.
- do not use this water to prepare infant formula or foods for infants.
- use water from another source (i.e. municipal or bottled water) to prepare your baby's food.
- If you are worried about the high level of nitrate in your well, contact us to speak to a public health inspector.