Costs of groundwater nitrate contamination

Excerpt

Groundwater is an important source of drinking water nationwide. Nitrate contamination has economic impacts on well owners who choose to treat their water or find another source, and on state and local governments working to prevent contamination. To better understand these costs, we asked two questions: (1) Can we develop a statistically sound and low-cost method to provide a regional representation of nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in private drinking water wells? (2) What is the economic impact of nitrate contamination on well owners?

To answer these questions, we conducted a mail survey of private drinking water well owners in 11 central Minnesota counties with high proportions of sandy glacial outwash. The mailing list was based on county land parcel databases. From the final list, 600 addresses were randomly selected from the homesteaded parcels (owner address same as property address) and 200 from the nonhomesteaded parcels. A survey was sent to the 800 property owners with 25 questions about characteristics of their well, nitrate testing of the well, actions taken in response to elevated nitrate concentrations, costs of these actions, and respondents' concerns and perceptions about water quality. The 60% who returned surveys were sent a nitrate testing kit consisting of a water …