Giving Compass' Take:
- Dana Cronin explains how millions of people living in rural areas across the Midwest are at risk of nitrate contamination in their well water due to lack of testing.
- In addition to advocating for increased testing of well water, how can planting cover crops improve soil health and help prevent nitrate runoff?
- Read more about polluted drinking water in Midwestern farm states.
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Millions of rural residents across the Midwest are at risk of nitrate contamination in their drinking water, but they might not know it.
Many rural residents get their drinking water from private wells, which are not regulated by state or federal governments. And if residents aren’t regularly testing their well water, they could be at risk of contamination.
A new report from Prairie Rivers Network, an Illinois-based environmental non-profit, outlines the dangers of nitrate contamination in rural well water. Nitrates, which run off of fertilizer-laden agricultural land, can have severe human health impacts and harm aquatic life.
“We just assume it’s all safe,” says Catie Gregg, who helped write the report. “But nitrate has no taste, no smell, no color. There’s nothing other than actually testing your water that can tell you whether it’s contaminated or not.”
Read the full article about water contamination by Dana Cronin at Harvest Public Media.