Nitrate Levels as Indicator of Bottled Water’s "Virginality"

By Michael Mascha

Nitrogen is the nutrient applied in the large quantities for crop production as well as for lawn and garden fertilization.  In addition to fertilizers, nitrogen occurs naturally in the soil in organic forms from decaying plant and animal residues. In the soil, bacteria convert various forms of nitrogen to nitrate.

Nitrate is an inorganic compound, composed of one atom of nitrogen (N) and three atoms of oxygen (O); the chemical symbol for nitrate is NO3.

Nitrogen is used by plants and absorbed in the nitrate form. However, nitrate is highly “leachable” and readily moves with water through the soil profile. If there is excessive rainfall or over-irrigation, nitrate will be leached below the plant's root zone and may eventually reach groundwater.

Nitrate in water is undetectable without testing because it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless.

Water naturally contains less than 1 milligram of nitrate per liter (mg/l).

Higher levels of nitrate indicate that the water has been contaminated in some form and are therefor good indicators of the overall quality of the water and it’s “virginality”.

Common sources of nitrate contamination include fertilizers, animal wastes, septic tanks, municipal sewage treatment systems, and decaying plant debris.

It is therefor very important to have a protected source for Naturally Bottled Water and the nitrate level is a good indication of the effectiveness of the protection of the water from it’s surroundings. Particular geological features can isolate the source from the top soil or a protective area around the source with no agricultuyral exposure is established to isolate the source from possible contamination. Some of the best sources of low nitrate water have a combination of features that allow no or minimal contamination.

High level of nitrate contamination of drinking water may result in negative human health affects including interference with blood’s ability to deliver oxygen to the body. This may result in a condition known as Methoglobinemia, or blue baby syndrome. Other potential health affects include cancer, disruption of thyroid function, birth defects and miscarriages.

The US federal drinking water standards for nitrates is set at 10 milligrams per liter, based on a 1951 study of infants with blue baby disease.

The standard has been criticized because it provides no margin of safety, ignores potentially sensitive populations, and ignores other potential health affects of nitrates.

According to the World Health Organization, most adults ingest 20-70 milligrams of nitrate- nitrogen per day with most of this coming from foods like lettuce, celery, beets, and spinach. When foods containing nitrate are eaten as part of a balanced diet the nitrate exposure is not thought to be harmful.

The W.H.O recommendation for the maximum nitrate level for short time exposure is 50 mg/l

Nitrate can be removed from drinking water by three methods: distillation, reverse osmosis, and ion exchange.  Home treatment equipment using these processes is available from several manufacturers.

Carbon adsorption filters, mechanical filters of various types, and standard water softeners do not remove nitrate-nitrogen. . Merely boiling water will increase rather than decrease the nitrate concentration.