Is Boardman, Oregon Water Safe to Drink? What You Need to Know About Nitrate in Well Water

If you are wondering whether Boardman, Oregon water is safe to drink, the answer depends on where your water comes from. Boardman sits in Morrow County along the Columbia River, and the area has two very different water situations side by side. People on the city water system get treated water that is tested regularly under Oregon Health Authority rules. The city reports that its nitrate level has averaged 2.9 mg/L since 2003, with a high of 5.85 mg/L since 2015 and a reading of 4.26 mg/L in 2025. The federal safety limit is 10 mg/L, so the city's numbers are well under it. You can look up your results anytime on Oregon's public drinking water database. People on private wells outside the city often face a much bigger problem, and two homes a few miles apart can have completely different water quality.

The problem is nitrate in the groundwater of the Lower Umatilla Basin. Oregon declared this area a groundwater management area in 1990 after finding that nitrate from farming was seeping into the aquifer. The area covers roughly 550 square miles across Morrow and Umatilla counties, and the state estimates that about 4,500 wells draw from contaminated groundwater. In the Boardman zip code, one map from Oregon Rural Action found that 68.8% of the 176 tested wells were unsafe. Some families have had to use bottled water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Nitrate has no color, smell, or taste, so a glass of contaminated water looks just like a glass of clean water and testing is the only way to know. Too much nitrate is linked to miscarriages, respiratory infections, and thyroid problems. Babies face the biggest risk because nitrate keeps their blood from carrying oxygen properly, which is called blue baby syndrome. Babies and pregnant women should never drink water that tests above 10 mg/L.

About 70% of the nitrate comes from fertilizer used on irrigated farmland. Farmers apply nitrogen fertilizer to grow crops, some of it turns into nitrate in the soil, and irrigation water carries it down into the aquifer. Food processing plants and industrial wastewater near the Port of Morrow have also been criticized as additional sources. The pollution built up over many years, so cleaning it up will take many years too, even if the sources are reduced right now. For a family on a private well, that timeline matters because the aquifer will not recover before your kids drink the water tomorrow.

For decades, Oregon relied mostly on voluntary action from farms and businesses, and the contamination only got worse. That is starting to change. State agencies are working on rules that would set limits on soil nitrate levels, require farms to keep records of fertilizer and irrigation use, and require soil testing after harvest. Lawsuits are adding pressure. Amazon agreed to a $20.5 million settlement in March 2026 over claims that its data centers added to the nitrate problem, though Amazon denies this. In August, Madison Ranches agreed to a $6.2 million settlement with residents in a federal lawsuit and did not admit wrongdoing. Morrow County is also looking at a plan to connect some homes with contaminated wells, including the West Glen neighborhood, to Boardman's city water. These steps are real progress, but many households will wait years before any of them reach their front door.

If you use a private well, test it once a year and again after the heavy irrigation season, when nitrate levels often rise. If your nitrate test comes back above the limit, you need a fix that works. Boiling makes nitrate more concentrated, and pitcher or faucet filters generally do not remove it. The methods that work are reverse osmosis, ion exchange, and distillation. Reverse osmosis is the most common choice for homeowners because it installs at your kitchen tap and treats the water you drink and cook with. If your test comes back above the limit, mix infant formula with a safe water source in the meantime and talk with your doctor about any health concerns.

City water customers can feel confident in their results, while private well owners need to stay alert and test regularly. Until stronger rules take effect and the aquifer recovers, protecting your household starts with knowing what is in your water.