By Sara Strong
A University of North Dakota study on nitrogen and water supplies is still ongoing and has long-term implications on water treatment in the area.
Scott Korum, a UND, Grand Forks, professor and the study's principle investigator, said that so far Luverne is about average in the denitrification process.
"The good news is that it looks like, in the chambers that we added nitrate, we are getting denitrification," Korum said.
Denitrification is the process of converting nitrate into a harmless gas.
Nitrates in ground water have been problematic for water treatment throughout the Midwest.
Nitrates enter ground water most commonly from agriculture fertilization.
Treatment facilities remove nitrates from drinking water, but denitrification can also occur naturally, and thatÕs what the UND study is all about.
The study of seven sites in North Dakota and Minnesota started last September and will continue through the spring, with a final report due a year from this September.
In Luverne's case, denitrification appears to be helped along by naturally occurring sulfide minerals and iron minerals. The helpful iron isnÕt the rust-type of iron that the city already removes from water.
Korum said the natural denitrification process is relatively slow, but is still happening.
"The bad news is that we don't know what the products of the denitrification are." Korum said.
In a type of chemical reaction, the ground loses part of its composition in order to remove the nitrogen.
"It's taking from our landscape, which built up over thousands of years," Korum said.
He doesnÕt know what the implications of that are, and thatÕs part of the studyÕs importance.
Filtering out the nitrate takes naturally occurring minerals at a faster rate than nature replaces them.
Researchers donÕt know how long the landscapeÕs composition can support denitrification and donÕt know enough yet to hypothesize.
The two sites in Luverne will continue to be tested every couple months.
Besides the city of Luverne, information will be shared with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, who are also helping to fund the study.