COLUMBUS – A drinking-water advisory for a large area of Franklin County, issued on June 8 because of elevated nitrate levels, has been extended, according to the Columbus Department of Public Utilities.
Areas affected by the advisory include portions of west, central, and southwest Columbus, Grandview Heights, Grove City, Hilliard, Lincoln Village, Marble Cliff, Upper Arlington, Urbancrest, and Valleyview (see map).
Advisories are issued when levels exceed the 10 parts per million ppm maximum set by the Ohio EPA. The level at the Dublin Road Water Plant Monday was 10.7 ppm, said department spokeswoman Laura Mohr.
Drinking water contaminated with high levels of nitrates should not be given to infants under the age of six months or used to make formula, juice or baby cereal, Mohr said. Adults and children older than six months can drink the tap water but the advisory was extended to pregnant women to also use bottled water as a precaution.
Pregnant women and mothers of infants younger than six months within the advisory area who cannot easily secure bottled water can contact 211 for public health assistance, said Columbus Public Health spokesman Jose Rodriguez.
Columbus Public Health ceased drive-thru pickup of water at its headquarters but Rodriguez says the agency will continue to provide water to pregnant women and mothers of infants who are clients of WIC and other programs in the affected areas.
Water with high concentrations of nitrates can make babies younger than six months seriously ill and can even prove fatal, she said. Symptoms include shortness of breath and “blue baby syndrome.”
Mohr says boiling, freezing, filtering, or letting water stand does not reduce the nitrate level and may increase it.