Nitrate in the ground water of Texas

Abstract

Ground water in many parts of Texas contains nitrate in excess of 20 ppm (parts per million) as NO3. About 3,000 of the 20,000 nitrate determinations made of water from wells in Texas showed more than 20 ppm of nitrate. The public water supplies of 27 Texas towns and cities contained more than 50 ppm of nitrate. Recent medical research indicates that methemoglobinemia or infant cyanosis (“blue babies”) may be caused by nitrate in water used in formula mixtures. Most of the high nitrate in ground water is found in wells less than 200 ft deep and mainly in water from late Tertiary and Quaternary formations; however, high nitrate was found in water from all kinds of rocks of all ages. The presence of high nitrate in ground water appears to be unrelated to rainfall, geography, or cultivation.A hypothesis of bacterial origin of the high nitrate is supported by strong evidence but is weakened by the presence of the correspondingly high content of associated salts. The disappearance of nitrate at depth presents additional problems.