21 hours Ago
Nitrates enter the water supply mostly through agriculture, with natural causes such as decaying vegetable matter and rainfall, as well as the use of fertiliser on arable land. Excessive nitrate in drinking water can cause methaemoglobinaemia, which can be fatal especially for young children. Welwyn Garden City resident Birgul Sexon recently purchased two axolotls for his daughter's birthday, but after testing the water supplied by Affinity for their tank, found that nitrate levels were around to 30 to 40 parts per million (PPM), way above the 10PPM recommended level.
"I think our community deserves to know that the tap water their family drink has high levels of nitrates," he told the Welwyn Hatfield Times. "We are paying Affinity Water for clean water, which they are not providing us. They just want to avoid the expense of removing this waste from water supplies.
"Affinity Water have the choice of treating and removing high nitrates, but are choosing to supply this water to families." Birgul reached out to Affinity Water, and was told that the current nitrate level in Welwyn Garden City water was 32.3mg per litre, below the maximum UK limit of 50mg per litre.
Despite this, he is still not happy, adding: "I still argue that there is an ethical dilemma. Just because they’re allowed 50mg per litre, doesn’t mean that need to be that high. Other countries in the world have limits of 10mg of nitrates for drinking water.
" When asked for comment by the Welwyn Hatfield Times, Affinity Water were keen to reassure customers. "We want to assure customers that our water meets all UK regulatory standards, with nitrate levels regularly monitored and confirmed to be within safe limits," a spokesperson said. "However, we recognise the customer’s concerns and would be delighted to speak directly to them and if necessary test their domestic supply.
"Affinity Water is committed to providing high-quality drinking water, and we continuously review and improve our treatment processes. Customers with concerns can contact us directly for further information.".
