Nitrite
Overview
Nitrite is a form of nitrogen closely related to nitrate, usually from fertilizer, sewage, or natural deposits.
In Florida, Nitrite was found in 88 community water systems serving about 6,935,566 people. It was measured by 1,559 systems in all, so it was detected in 6% of the systems that tested for it.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Wellington WTP in Palm Beach County, at 100% of it.
Where it comes from: Runoff from fertilizer; sewage; erosion of natural deposits.
The standards
Enforceable. A utility must stay at or under this.
Health-based, not enforceable. Often lower than the limit, sometimes zero.
California OEHHA PHG (2018), as nitrogen.
Health effects the EPA associates with it: Serious illness in infants under six months (blue-baby syndrome) if untreated.
The health goal is set on health alone. The legal limit is set as close to it as is technically and economically feasible, so treatment cost and available technology are written into the number a utility is measured against. A system at or under the limit is meeting the standard it is required to meet. Both numbers are shown so the distance between them is visible.
What removes it
Reverse osmosis or anion exchange, the same as nitrate. Boiling concentrates it.
Treatment guidance describes the methods generally used for this contaminant. What your own tap actually carries depends on your plumbing and your service line as much as on the utility, which is what a test at the house tells you and an annual report cannot.
Where in Florida
Highest reported levels
Showing the 25 highest of 88 systems that reported Nitrite.
Data Sources
These figures describe water as delivered by each utility, not what your home’s plumbing adds after it arrives. Informational; not a substitute for testing your own tap.