Introduction to Water Quality

Checkpoints on this Page:

Checkpoint 2.a: Role of Nitrogen
Checkpoint 2.b: Nitrogen in Your Water
Checkpoint 2.c: Nitrogen Summary

Water Quality Video Clips

After watching the selected water quality video clips included in the slides, consider the following questions:

🎯 Checkpoint 2. a: Role of Nitrogen

Summarize. What is the role of nitrogen in our water? Do we want nitrates in our streams? Our drinking water? How about water with lots of nitrogen?

Monitoring Nitrogen in the Water

Too much nitrogen in water can make both people and animals sick 🐟🐟🐟. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets limits on what are allowable concentrations of nitrates and nitrites in drinking water. These limits are legally enforceable.

Nitrate and Nitrite EPA Limits

Nitrates: 10 mg/L
Nitrites: 1 mg/L

Monitoring Nitrogen: Your Local Utility

Local water utilities must survey and monitor the concentration of nitrogen in water to ensure that their water supply meets the EPA limits. They regularly conduct testing and report results to the appropriate regulatory agencies. You can look up the reported nitrate concentration for water from your utility by using your zipcode.

🎯 Checkpoint 2. b: Nitrogen In Your Water

Using data from EWG, what is the most recently reported nitrate concentration by your water utility?

The most recently reported nitrate concentration for water from a selected utility.

Monitoring Nitrogen: You and Other Citizen Scientists!

There are a variety of ways we, as private citizens, can monitor the concentration of nitrogen in our water, too. One way is to use test strips.

Note that 10 mg/L is the EPA limit for nitrate and 1 mg/L is the EPA limit for nitrite.

🎯 Checkpoint 2. c: Nitrogen Summary

Remember! What are the EPA drinking water limits for nitrate and nitrite??