Nitrate is essential for plant growth and is often added to soil to improve productivity. Nitrate is very soluble and does not bind to soils; therefore, water moving down through soil after rainfall or irrigation carries dissolved nitrate with it to ground water. In this way, nitrate enters the water supplies of many homeowners who use wells, ponds or springs potentially posing serious health risks to those using drinking the water, especially infants and pregnant women.

Click the "Download" button to obtain the "Treatment Technologies for Removing Nitrates in Drinking Water" fact sheet.