NITRATE IN SHALLOW GROUNDWATER SOURCE IN A RURAL AREA AND ITS REMOVAL

Nitrate contamination of groundwater is a great problem all over the world. Nitrate is found in most of the natural water at moderate concentrations, but elevated levels in groundwater mainly result from human activity, especially from excessive use of chemical fertilizers. The use of synthetic fertilizers is a necessary practice in the agricultural production, but their increasing use has raised concerns over the possible nitrate contamination of drinking water supplies within agricultural areas. Elevated nitrate concentrations in drinking water can cause methemoglobinemia in infants and stomach cancer in adults. The nitrate in groundwater used for drinking is becoming an important problem in rural areas in Northwest Croatia. Drinking water is supplied from shallow wells that are directly exposed to nitrate leaching, when nitrogen-rich fertilizer application exceeds the plant demand and the denitrification capacity of the soil. Nitrate concentration from all sampled location exceeded maximum permissible level (MPL) of 50 mgNO(3)(-)/L and concentrations in some samples were greater than 150 mgNO(3)(-)/L. The possibility to remove nitrate from contaminated groundwater from private wells at a domestic level, using home filter jug was investigated. Nitrate selective anion exchange resin was used as filter media. The ion exchange resin is suitable for use in the home filter unit because of its simplicity, effectiveness, selectivity and relatively low cost.