Water analysis for nitrates in Stafford County Kansas.

Abstract

Nitrate in ground water has been a concern for some time across the contiguous 48 states in the USA. It causes methemoglobinemia in infants and very young livestock and has been suspected of other adverse health effects. Several sources such as feedlots, septic tanks, and commercial fertilization have been determined to put ground water at risk of nitrate infiltration. To further investigate nitrates in ground water, this research analyzed water from three rural domestic wells in Stafford County, Kansas for three years. The wells were sampled up to 6 times a year from August 1991 to July 1994. All three wells had quantities of nitrate above natural background levels. Two of the wells had nitrate levels above the established health advisory limit of 10 mg/L as nitrogen. During the period of investigation the nitrate concentrations did not remain static. Some variances were quite large. Following a period of heavy precipitation, nitrate concentrations increased to levels greater than the EPA action limit in two of the wells.