Blue baby syndrome can also be caused by Methemoglobinemia. It is believed to be caused by high nitrate contamination in ground water resulting in decreased oxygen carrying capacity of hemoglobin in babies leading to death. The groundwater is thought to be contaminated by leaching of nitrate generated from fertilizer used in agricultural lands and waste dumps [4]. It may also be related to some pesticides (DDT, PCBs etc), which cause ecotoxicological problems in the food chains of living organisms, increasing BOD, which kills aquatic animals. ( source )

So… elevated nitrate levels in drinking water can lead to ‘methemoglobinemia’, but what does that word MEAN?

The disorder methemoglobinemia typically means the blood contains elevated levels of methemoglobin (metHb), a form of hemoglobin that really and truly likes to attach itself to oxygen molecules — and if present in too great a quantity it will latch onto enough oxygen molecules to cause living tissue to die as a result of oxygen-deprivation.

Where does the ‘blue’ part of blue baby syndrome come from?

Without proper oxygenation of red blood cells a condition known as cyanosis occurs. Note: The term has nothing to do with cyanide, though cyanide poisoning can definitely result in skin turning a shade of blue due to oxygen deprivation.

But, since the topic of cyanide has come up, if you believe you may have someone out to get you, or perhaps you live close to industrial facilities that may make use of cyanide in their processes, maybe you should consider testing your water for cyanide. The Cyanide Emergency Test Kit provides presence/absence test results if it detects cyanide levels between 2.0 ppm and 1,700 ppm.

Getting back to the topic of nitrates, though, health officials and water quality professionals agree that owners of wells should, at the very least, periodically test their well water for the presence of nitrates & nitrites, coliform bacteria, lead, copper, total iron, total hardness, pH, and heavy metals.

Moral of the story?

In the end, if you have a private well, the responsibility for making sure the quality of the water coming out of that well falls squarely on… your shoulders. Therefore, test your well water at least once a year. It’s your well, your water, and ultimately your LIFE.

Potentially harmful drinking water contaminants such as nitrates, nitrites and certain types of bacteria enter the water and may eventually find their way into aquifers tapped for drinking water.

For that reason, along with a host of others, the staff at Water Testing Blog encourage all owners of private wells in agricultural regions to test their wells for nitrates, nitrites and bacteria not just in the Spring, but several times throughout the year.

For the task of testing well water, WaterSafe makes a handy Well Water Test Kit that tests for the following parameters: bacteria, lead, copper, iron, pesticides, nitrates, chlorine, pH, and water hardness.

Bacteria – strains of E.coli can cause serious illness or even death.

Lead – causes developmental harm, neurological and kidney damage.

Copper – causes liver and kidney damage in infants.

Iron – causes staining in laundry, dishes, bathtubs and sinks. Clogs pipes and gives off offensive odor.

Pesticides – from agricultural uses, linked to increased cancer rates.

Nitrates – from fertilizers and animal waste, causes developmental problems.

Chlorine – can increase cancer risk, gives water bad taste and smell.

pH level – can cause heavy metal (lead) leaching and plumbing damage.

Water Hardness – causes lime scale and higher detergent use.

Or, if you prefer to test for parameters individually w/o having to buy parameters you do not wish to test for, the following links ought to come in handy.

Free Chlorine Water Test	Bacteria Check Test Kit	Mercury Check Water Test Kit
Water Quality Test Kit	Total Hardness Test Kit	Water Metals Test Kit
Well Drillers Master Test Kit	Manganese Check Water Test Kit	Well Drillers Standard Test Kit

A final word… or more accurately a sentence

If you have serious reason to suspect your well water has become contaminated, get your water tested by a certified water testing lab such as National Testing Labs

Nitrite: The nitrite ion is NO₂. The anion is bent, being isoelectronic with ozone. More generally, a nitrite compound is either a salt or an ester of nitrous acid. ( source )

WaterWorks™ Nitrate / Nitrite (as Nitrogen) test strips make in-home and field testing for nitrates and nitrites in water a fast, easy process. This product requires no tablets, powders, or counting of drops… making it well-suited for on-site well testing or the occasional testing of drinking water at home.

Each WaterWorks™ Nitrate / Nitrite test strip performs (1) one nitrate test and (1) one nitrate test.

* Dip strip into sample for a period of two seconds
* Remove strip and wait one minute
* Compare developed colors on test pads to color charts on bottle label

Each bottle of WaterWorks™ Nitrate / Nitrite test strips comes with a total of (50) fifty nitrite tests and (50) nitrate tests.

Detection Ranges:

Total Nitrate (NO3): 0, 0.5, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 ppm (mg/L).

Total Nitrite (NO2): 0.15, 0.3, 1, 1.5, 3, 10 ppm (mg/L)

Many people have the wrong idea about how much maintenance and testing a healthy aquarium requires. Notice we said, “healthy.”

An UNhealthy aquarium requires next to no maintenance. Simply add water to the tank, throw in some fish, wait for fish to die, scoop up dead fish, re-stock tank with live fish, and repeat the last two steps until common sense kicks in.

Eventually people catch on to the fact that an aquarium needs more attention than just adding fish and dumping in food once in a while. It takes some people longer than others to figure that out, true, but we can discuss that topic another time. For right now let’s stick to the topic at-hand: Testing Aquarium Water so that your fish don’t keep going belly up.

API Test Kit for Ammonia, Nitrate & Nitrite

Liquid Test Kit for Ammonia, Nitrate & Nitrite

Liquid Test Kit for General Hardness & Carbonate Hardness

Test Kit for Monitoring Copper in Water

Test Kit for Monitoring Iron in Water

Test Kit for Monitoring Phosphates in Water

As you can see from the above test kits, you will have to test for a number different water parameters if you want to keep your fish healthy, happy and alive. Thankfully most aquarium test kits these days come with easy-to-follow instructions and the average person can complete the testing in just a few minutes.

Which water parameters matter most? Hard to say, but many pond and aquarium experts agree that a person ought to keep a close eye on the following water quality parameters if they hope to have clean, healthy water for their fish to live in:

• Ammonia Levels — As disgusting as it sounds to us, fish live in their own waste products, one of which is ammonia. Excessive amounts of ammonia result in respiratory problems for fish and if left untreated the fish will eventually stop breathing and die.
• Chlorine/Chloramines Levels — Extremely toxic to fish and pretty much all aquatic life even in small amounts. When adding fresh water to an aquarium, always make sure to test for and remove any and all traces of chlorine and chloramines.
• Nitrite Levels — When ammonia breaks down it forms nitrites, another very toxic compound which can cause respiratory distress in, and eventually the death of, fish.
• pH Levels — It ought to come as no surprise that fish don’t want to swim around in extremely acidic or basic water any more than you would want someone pouring hydrochloric acid or concentrated lye onto your skin. One thing to remember, though, about pH: Not all fish prefer the exact same pH so when choosing your fish, read up on their preferred water conditions — or risk killing some of your fish slowly and painfully.

“Overview: Standard 62 covers distillation systems designed to reduce specific contaminants, including total arsenic, chromium, mercury, nitrate/nitrite, and microorganisms from public and private water supplies.” (source)