Other Services
Nitrate Well Testing
We offer FREE nitrate testing on well water!
Why Test For Nitrates?
Nitrate is the most common pollutant found in rural wells in Morrison County. Nitrate in drinking water presents a serious problem for infants up to about six months of age, and for pregnant women. Too much nitrate in infants can reduce the amount of oxygen carried by blood. This is known as “Blue Baby Syndrome.”
How Much Nitrate is Too Much?
The Minnesota Health Risk Limit for nitrate is 10 mg/L of nitrate-nitrogen.
How Do I Test My Well For Nitrates?
Run the water for three minutes before taking the sample.
Use a permanent marker to label a resealable plastic bag (please double bag) with your name or a number/code that you can easily remember. A clean glass jar may also be used. If you have more than one sample, add an identifier (e.g., Well #1).
Collect the water in the bag, only one cup is needed. Do this within 24 hours of having the sample analyzed and keep it refrigerated as long as possible.
If you have water treatment equipment installed (other than a softener), we recommend taking a sample "before" and "after" to determine if your system is working properly.
Your sample will be analyzed "on the spot", which will take 5 to 10 minutes.
Irrigation Management Assistant
The Irrigation Management Assistant (IMA) was developed for the Benton SWCD and funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF). To goal is to develop tools that can assist in making agricultural irrigation decisions. Initially, the pilot project supported areas impacting the Little Rock Creek in parts of Benton and Morrison County. In 2018, it has been expanded to cover the remainder of Benton County and all of Becker, Hubbard, Otter Tail, Todd and Wadena Counties with the last five being supported by the East Otter Tail SWCD.
