Urban vs. Rural Drinking Water: Comparing Safety, Quality, and Potential Contaminants

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Presentation Length

Poster/Gallery presentation

College

College of Sciences & Mathematics

Department

Biology, Department of

Student Level

Undergraduate

SPARK Category

Research

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Ross Andrew

SPARK Session

Poster: 10:15 - 11:45am session for Biology in Beaman.

Presentation Type

Poster

Summary

Access to clean drinking water is a necessity for human health and life duration. Contaminants in drinking water can lead to many detrimental health problems such as cholera, typhoid, or gastrointestinal issues. It is important to know that the water supplied to the public is safe for consumption. This study serves as an investigation suggesting not only that there are differences between drinking water in urban and rural settings, but also to inform the public of ways to accurately test the safety of their drinking water. To test this theory, both pre- and post-filtrated water samples were collected from Nashville, TN and Pulaski, TN. Safety levels including, but not limited to, nitrate, pH, turbidity, and bacteria coliforms are tested using at-home testing kits. Nitrate levels between urban and rural settings show that while both are under the maximum contaminant levels of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation drinking water regulations (10 ppm), the rural water had higher levels. Because nitrates are inorganic compounds found in soil or fertilizers, this may suggest that there are higher levels in rural water because there is a higher farming rate than in urban settings. Further preliminary analysis reveals potential rural settings, although still under the Tennessee drinking water regulations, may have higher levels of inorganic materials due to the higher farming rates. These findings, while preliminary, could have implications that there are differences in drinking water in rural vs urban areas, however, both are still considered safe for consumption under the state of Tennessee’s regulations.

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