Re: nitrates and NO3-N

[Shireen Gonzaga <whimbrel at comcast_net>]

Stephan said:
> NO3-N means 'nitrate-nitrogen' not 'nitrates'.

That intuitively makes sense. But here's an excerpt of what
I got from a lab administrator at the Baltimore City Bureau
of Water and Wastewater

   The nitrate values we report are ppm or mg/L (NO3-N).
   The USEPA MCL for drinking water is 10 mg/L nitrate
   as (NO3-N).

I also went to the EPA website. Here's a quote from
http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/contaminants/dw_contamfs/nitrates.html

   The MCL for nitrates has been set at 10 ppm,

As you can see, both professional government agencies refer
to nitrates in (NO3-N) units. If the EPA really meant that
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) was 10 ppm NO3, well ....
that means that our tap water is way too clean.  ;-)


cheers,
	shireen


--
Shireen Gonzaga
Baltimore
whimbrel at comcast_net