Nitrate Detection Methods

Current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations require all public water suppliers to test and monitor for nitrate, as well as other water quality constituents. Although EPA regulations do not apply to an individual well-water system that serves a single household, they are a useful guide for all drinking water systems. The importance of water quality and health risks associated with nitrate motivates the need for direct and continuous monitoring. The objective of this report is to discover nitrate contamination and present the use of nitrate monitoring methods that provide qualitative or quantitative results. Characteristics of nitrate detection are used with the intent on building a prototype monitor in the future that is capable of measuring detectable amounts of nitrate in drinking water to ensure the protection of drinking water supplies.