Everyone in Oregon deserves to have safe, clean drinking water, no matter where they live or how they get their water — whether it’s from a private well or a public drinking water system.

However, domestic well-water users aren’t required to meet water testing and treatment rules like public water systems. This makes me especially concerned for two groups of people if their domestic well water is high in nitrate: pregnant women and infants.

The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says drinking or eating a lot of nitrates can short-circuit the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen. For babies younger than a year old, this can cause the baby’s skin to look bluish or brownish — a condition known as “Blue Baby Syndrome” or methemoglobinemia — and prevent the baby’s cells and organs from working properly. The baby can become unusually fussy, tired or have trouble breathing.

And although more research is needed to determine the relationship between maternal exposure to nitrates and reproductive and developmental effects, some scientific evidence suggests pregnant women exposed to high nitrate levels may have increased risk of pregnancy complications such as anemia, premature labor or high blood pressure, according to ATSDR.

That’s why Doulas Latinas International has been working closely with state, county and fellow community-based partners to urge all private well users in northern Morrow and northwestern Umatilla counties, an area designated by the state as the Lower Umatilla Groundwater Management Area (LUBGWMA) due to high nitrate pollution, to take advantage of free well-water testing that can help them know their risk of exposure to nitrates.

If a test reveals high levels of nitrate that make well water unsafe to drink, the state of Oregon will provide families with free water delivery and, where effective, free in-home water treatment systems.

So far — thanks to a coordinated effort with the health departments in Morrow and Umatilla counties, Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Human Services and several community organizations that included door-to-door canvassing and a mass communications campaign — nearly half of the homes in the Lower Umatilla Basin that rely on private wells for drinking water have received a testing voucher to get a free well water test.

The thought of even one infant or pregnant woman being exposed to high levels of nitrate in their drinking water breaks my heart. We can prevent these exposures, and the best way to do that is through free water testing, treatment and delivery, in an equitable manner, among all households and diverse communities.

This is one of the goals, among many, that the government and CBOs are striving to meet to ensure equitable participation in this project, and that everyone in these communities has access to all available resources.

Doulas Latinas and our partners want to see every household that relies on a well for their drinking water get tested as soon as possible. We encourage all households to schedule a free well water test appointment by calling 211, or by applying for a voucher online, by email, or by phone to get a free well water testing voucher:

• Online: testmywell.oregon.gov (for Spanish, pruebadepozo.oregon.gov)

• Email: Domestic.Wells@odhsoha.oregon.gov

• Phone: 211 or the OHA Domestic Well Safety Program LUBGWMA phone line at 541-952-9254 for help completing a voucher and setting an appointment for the state to collect a water sample and deliver it to the laboratory.

• Information for domestic well users outside LUBGWMA is available from the OHA Domestic Well Safety Program by visiting www.healthoregon.org/wells, emailing Domestic.Wells@odhsoha.oregon.gov or calling 971-673-0440.