ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment will offer a free nitrate water-testing clinic from 4 to 7 p.m. June 5 at the Scandia Town Hall.

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“Nitrates in drinking water can be a risk to human health,” MDA Commissioner Dave Frederickson said. “Public drinking water supplies are monitored for nitrates, but it’s important for homeowners with private wells to check their water and take action if their water has high nitrates levels.”

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Samples will be analyzed on the spot since the process usually takes less than five minutes. Results will be given directly to the homeowner. If the nitrate level in a sample is elevated, clinic staff can refer the homeowner to certified labs that will retest the water.

The Scandia Town Hall is at 14727 209th St. North, in Scandia. Contact Wendy Griffin at 651-275-1136, ext. 24 for details. ( source )

Owners of private wells need to stay vigilant when it comes to monitoring nitrate levels in their well water — especially if the wells service homes containing small children and/or pregnant women. Scientists have positively linked elevated nitrate levels in drinking water to incidents of methemoglobinemia, or blue baby syndrome.

In cases of blue baby syndrome, the nitrates get absorbed into the blood by hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying component of blood) which gets converted to methemoglobin… and methemoglobin does not carry oxygen nearly as efficiently as hemoglobin. This, in turn, results in lowered oxygen levels in the bloodstream and organs such as the brain then receive lower than needed amounts of oxygen.

Prolonged deprivation of oxygen flowing to the brain becomes particularly problematic for infants and young children since their blood cannot convert the methemoglobin back to hemoglobin and the brain, in extreme cases, can become damaged.

In truly extreme cases of blue baby syndrome the brain, and its owner, can die.

Protecting your drinking water source

A study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency roughly 20 years ago found that more than 50 percent of the private wells tested had traces of nitrates in their water — and we highly doubt that number has decreased since that time.

While the majority of nitrate contamination incidents take place in or around rural areas occupied by agricultural industries and activities, improperly installed or poorly placed wells in non-agricultural areas often get contaminated, as well.

When considering the location for a new well make certain the well will not reside within 100 feet of feed areas, regions that will get treated with fertilizers on a regular basis, barns, livestock pens, septic tanks, sewage discharge pipes, or places where chemicals of any kind will get stored. Oh, and PLEASE do not forget to place the well UPHILL from any of the aforementioned potential contamination sources.

Got a well on your property that no longer gets used? Did you know that it could easily serve as an entry point for unwanted contamination if not properly sealed or capped? Making sure old and/or abandoned wells have the correct protection over them will help ensure that the aquifer below remains untainted by contaminants on the surface near the well heads.

And finally, do not over-fertilize lawns, crops, etc. Nutrients not absorbed by the plants will wind up in runoff that will eventually find its way into the ground water supply.

Removing nitrates from drinking water?

Not all drinking water filters sold will remove nitrates and/or nitrites from ground, well and drinking water. The models below range from a simple disposable counter top model for nitrate removal all the way up to a whole house filter for nitrate removal.

While not the be all, end all signs of well and ground water contamination, the presence of either certainly warrants immediate action and, in our opinion, the performance of more thorough testing by a certified drinking water testing laboratory.

Testing wells regularly is the only way to determine whether well water is safe to drink; many contaminants are colorless and odorless. Water from a public or municipal water system is regularly tested for contaminants regulated by federal and state standards. ( source )

For those not living in McHenry County, we suggest contacting your local health department to see what sort of free or reduced water testing programs they have available. Many times programs of that nature go under advertised (or not advertised at all).

If no options exist that way, do not simply do nothing… it’s you water, your health… and ultimately your life!

Inexpensive screening methods exist that will allow you to quickly and economically perform basic water tests on your own that will let you know whether or not you should spend the money required for more laboratory testing.

While at-home drinking and well water test kits work as great screening tools, one should not rely on them to fully diagnose every possible water contamination problem.

Today we’d like to highlight the free nitrate testing program that will run from July 18 to July 20, 2011 in Douglas County, Minnesota.

Sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Douglas County Soil and Water Conservation District, free nitrates in water testing will get offered to residents who bring samples of their well or tap water to the County offices in Alexandria.

Why test for nitrates?

For starters, the USEPA has deemed them a health hazard if consumed in too great a quantity — especially for young children and babies.

A condition known as Blue Baby Syndrome, experts believe, may result when nitrates hinder the ability of hemoglobin to carry oxygen in the bloodstream.

Reduced amounts of oxygen in the bloodstream can cause developmental problems and could even result in the death.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and Douglas County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will offer a free nitrate water-testing clinic July 18-20 at the County offices located at 900 Robert Street, Suite 102, in Alexandria. Clinic hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The clinic is the latest in a series of water-testing clinics sponsored by MDA. Nitrates are the most common contaminants in Minnesota’s groundwater, and in some areas of the state a significant number of wells have high nitrate levels. With that in mind, experts recommend that homeowners who get their drinking water from wells should test their water regularly.

“Nitrates in drinking water can be a risk to human health,” MDA Commissioner Dave Frederickson said. “Public drinking water supplies are monitored for nitrates, but it’s important for homeowners with private wells to check their water and take action if their water has high nitrates levels.” ( source )

For those not lucky enough to live in a place offering free nitrate testing, do not fret because everyone has the option of performing at-home testing for nitrates for less than $0.50 per test AND get dependable results in just a few short minutes. The WaterWorks Nitrate/Nitrite Test Strip gives homeowners and water professionals the ability to quickly determine if a Nitrate or Nitrite problem may exist in a body of water.

Filters to remove nitrates from drinking water?

Several different styles of filter exist to remove nitrates from drinking water. Depending upon the amount of water you want to filter and the amount of nitrates in your source water, pricing for a simple disposable nitrate removal filter start around $120, pricing for higher capacity undersink nitrate filters start around $125, and pricing for more sophisticated whole house nitrate removal systems starts around $1,370.