He said 133 nitrate tests were taken. This compared to 83 at the last day held in 2020.
“This response just goes to show that the Selwyn rural community continues to be very concerned about the quality of their drinking water,” Glover said.
Nitrate researcher Dr Tim Chambers from Otago University's public health department and Peter Trolove of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater Anglers undertook the tests.
They found 11 samples, or eight per cent, were over New Zealand’s 11.3 mg/l maximum allowable value.
“We had to advise those participants about the risks to pregnant women and bottle-fed infants, and encouraged them to look into alternative sources of drinking water or nitrate treatment for their supply,” Glover said.
Babies consuming high nitrates can develop the potentially fatal blue baby syndrome.
Chambers and Otago University researchers are compiling a database for a study to correlate possible links between nitrates and the risk of premature birth.
They have recently received $1.2 million from the Health Research Council for the study, being undertaken in response to research by Stanford University last year finding a correlation between the two.
Glover said many of the visitors to the community day consented to have their results included in the database.
He said 43 per cent of the 120 samples that were from private supply, used for drinking water and unfiltered supply, were at or over the 5 mg/l amount.
He said this was a high rate, which reinforced the need for the Otago University research.
Chambers said the testing day demonstrated the power of community when it came to measuring nitrates.
And the high turnout showed the growing concern about the potential health impacts of nitrates.
