You may have heard of nitrates in drinking water, but may not know what they are or how they affect your home’s water quality.
Nitrates are nitrogen-oxygen chemical units that combine with various organic and inorganic compounds. According to the EPA, ingestion of nitrites – the conversion of nitrates taken into the body – above maximum contaminant levels by infants under six months of age can have severe health effects.
Nitrates get into drinking water through runoff from fertilizer use; leaking septic and sewage tanks; and natural deposit erosion. And nitrate contamination from fertilizer runoff is what Dakota County is tackling, according to a recent article from The Farmington Independent:
For years, Dakota County and the Vermillion River Watershed District have played a leadership role in working to understand and address groundwater and surface water contamination from agricultural activities through the Agricultural Outreach program, developed as a result of the Hastings Area Nitrate Study almost 10 years ago.
At its regular meeting this week, the Dakota County Board of Commissioners executed a grant agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which administers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 319 grant program and executed an agreement with the University of Minnesota for the Dakota County Nitrate Reduction Project.
Farmers have responded positively to nitrate contamination reduction efforts, according to the article, and many have adopted different farming and land management practices.
However, despite progress, nitrate contamination is still a problem for many Dakota County drinking water sources. So, what can you do to reduce nitrates in your drinking water?
The first thing is to let the Haferman Water Conditioning team do an analysis of your water. Once results are determined, we can put together a plan to tackle your water quality i
ssues. Call us at (877) 894-4040 or fill out our online form.
Afterward, we can recommend a product to effectively tackle your nitrate problem, like the Haferman Springsoft Reverse Osmosis system. The EPA has found reverse osmosis systems to be effective at removing nitrates to below maximum contaminant levels. Our reverse osmosis system and other products can be found on our drinking water systems page.
