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City Of Columbus Issues Tap Water Nitrate Advisory

City of Columbus

The City of Columbus has issued a nitrate advisory, telling pregnant women and infants on the west side and in portions of downtown not to drink the tap water. It's the fourth such advisory the city has issued in the last eight years. The warning is for areas served by the Dublin Road Water Plant, including portions of downtown, Grandview Heights, Grove City, Hilliard, Marble Cliff, Upper Arlington and Valleyview. Columbus Division of Water Administrator Rick Westerfield says last week's heavy rainfall washed farm fertilizers into the Scioto River watershed, which wound up at the plant at levels above acceptable standards.

Women who are more than 30 weeks pregnant and infants younger than 6 months are advised not to use the tap water. Health officials say people should not boil the water because that concentrates the nitrates. The city says a 35 million dollars ion-exchange facility that will eliminate nitrates is under construction.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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