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PUBLIC NOTICE NITRATE (NO3) INTRODUCTION The water agency may describe the water system and current status of sources that exceed the MCL. A summary of the results of sampling should be presented. PUBLIC NOTICE (1 ) FOR Nitrate. "The California Department of Health Services (DHS) sets drinking water standards and has determined that nitrate poses an acute health concern at certain levels of exposure. Nitrate is used in fertilizer and is found in sewage and wastes from human and/or farm animals and generally gets into drinking water from those activities. Excessive levels of nitrate in drinking water have caused serious f illness and sometimes death in infants under six months of age. The serious illness in infants is caused because nitrate is converted to nitrite in the bay. Nitrite interferes with the oxygen carrying capacity of the child's blood. This is an acute disease in that symptoms can develop rapidly in infants. In most cases, health deteriorates over a period of days. Symptoms include shortness of breath and blueness of the skin. Clearly, expert medical advice should be sought immediately if these symptoms occur. The purpose of this notice is to encourage parents and other responsible parties to provide infants with an alternative source of drinking water for infants. DHS has set the drinking water standard at 10 parts per million (ppm) nitrate as nitrogen, (equivalent to the 45 ppm nitrate as nitrate drinking water standard) to protect against the risk of these adverse effects. DHS has also set a drinking water standard for nitrite at 1 ppm to allow for the fact that the toxicity of nitrate and nitrite are additive. DHS has also established a standard for the sum of nitrate and nitrite as 10 ppm as nitrogen. Drinking water that meets the DHS standard is associated with little to none of the risk and is considered safe with respect to nitrate." ENDING The water agency should thea describe their plans for bringing the water system into compliance.