During the past several months, there have been articles in newspapers as well as reports on the local morning and evening news stations about the issues that the Des Moines Water Works have had with excessive nitrate levels in the water coming into their water treatment facility. The problem has gotten to the point where the Des Moines Water Works has filed a law suit against three counties northwest of the Des Moines area. There have been many that have asked my take on this subject since I have been doing what I do for 36 years now. I am going to decline comment on that issue at this time because that is not the reason for my bringing this subject up.
In addition, recently, we have seen articles related to excessive nitrate levels in the drinking water in Boone, IA. I suspect that, before it’s all said and done, we will see this same thing happening elsewhere.
My objective here is to give the water users of Creston and the Southern Iowa Rural Water System some knowledge of the effects of excessive nitrate levels as well as what amounts are being found in our drinking water.
A common contributor to the source of nitrates is agricultural related. Nitrogen based fertilizers are commonly used. Getting right to the point, “more is not better.” In other words, the more that is used doesn’t mean a bigger yield. The plant will only consume so much. The rest then either percolates through the soil and ends up in ground water supplies or runs off into surface water supplies. The later would be 12 Mile Lake and 3 Mile Lake which are both used as the primary source for your drinking water.
What is the adverse health effect of excessive nitrate levels in drinking water? Most of the focus on this is with infants where our drinking water is used to mix with formula for feeding. If the water has a level of nitrate concentration in exceedance of the maximum allowable level, as deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency, which is 10 mg/L (that is 10 milligrams per liter or 10 parts per million), a possible adverse health condition exists. Nitrates have an adverse affect on the bloods ability to carry oxygen to the brain. The result is methemoglobinemia, commonly referred to as “blue baby syndrome.”
So, how does our water compare to others in terms of nitrate levels? We are truly blessed and should be thankful that this issue, to date, has not been a problem. Again, the maximum allowable limit is 10 mg/L. Some water departments have seen anywhere from small to significant exceedance in this level. The last nitrate test done on the drinking water in our system was on June 17, 2015. The detected level was 1.8 mg/L. Historically we have seen levels at this amount or less.
Currently we are required to test for nitrate levels once per year per lake. However, I think that this particular contaminant warrants more frequent monitoring and testing. We live in the state of Iowa where the ag community plays a huge role in our well being. They’ve been doing their part, at least down here in our neck of the woods. I’d like to prove that more often than once a year.
Let us all thank the agriculture community in southwest Iowa. They obviously understand. They are knowledgeable. They realize that not only do they drink this water but their children do and their grandchildren do. My hat is off to them. Thanks so much for your contributing efforts in keeping our drinking water supplies contaminant free.