Battle Lake Mobile Home Park Takes Action to Protect Community from Nitrate

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Battle Lake Mobile Home Park has several wells that provide drinking water to its residents. In the late 2000s, one of the wells that provides drinking water started to have high test results for nitrate. Elevated nitrate in the drinking water supply can impact health by affecting how blood carries oxygen and can cause a condition called methemoglobinemia. Bottle-fed babies under six months old are at the highest risk of getting methemoglobinemia.

To protect the residents, Battle Lake decided to abandon this well and drill a new, deeper well in 2012. The nitrate levels in the new well were significantly lower and below the Maximum Contaminant Limit (MCL) for nitrate, making a new source of safe drinking water available to the residents.

About 6 years later, the new well started to show increasing nitrate levels. Battle Lake investigated where the nitrate contamination was coming from and suspected that the original well, which was unsealed, could have holes in the well casing. This would allow a pathway for nitrate-laden water to travel to the new primary well water supply.

Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) district engineer, Lucas Hoffman, recommended that Battle Lake Mobile Home Park seal the original well to eliminate the pathway for nitrates into the water supply. Aaron Meyer, a source water protection specialist from Minnesota Rural Water Association (MRWA), helped Battle Lake create a plan of action and aided in the process of applying for a Source Water Protection Competitive Grant to have the old well sealed. Source Water Protection Grants are made possible by Clean Water Fund and enable small systems like Battle Lake Mobile Home Park to take actions that protect the quality of their drinking water sources. Battle Lake received $1,792.50 from the Source Water Protection Competitive Grant and matched that amount to have the old well sealed.

The project successfully sealed the old well that acted as a pathway for nitrates to enter the aquifer. With the old well sealed, there was a dramatic drop in nitrate levels, dropping by 2.5 mg/L over the next six months to deliver water below the MCL. Within two years of the well sealing, nitrate levels in the new well dropped by 6 mg/L. These actions protected the aquifer from nitrate contamination while protecting the source of drinking water for the residents of Battle Lake Mobile Home Park. Through grant applications and consultation with MDH and MRWA, safe drinking water was restored for a community.

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