Know Your Nitrate

Everyone should be able to trust that the water from their tap is safe to drink. Access to safe drinking water is a basic human right – but nitrate contamination of drinking water is putting people at risk.  Most New Zealanders (80%) drink water from their tap that has 1.0 mg/L or less of nitrate (NO₃-N). However, around 800,000 New Zealanders could be exposed to levels of nitrate that are potentially harmful. The communities most likely to be exposed to elevated nitrate levels are those in rural areas with high farming intensity who rely on household bore water or town groundwater drinking supplies. The higher the nitrate concentrations in drinking water, the greater the potential health risks.

Learn more about the issue here