By nature of the powers and authority of boards of health in Massachusetts the goal of promoting public health is accomplished by protection of the environment and promotion of good health practices and sanitary living conditions. The Board of Health strives to protect and preserve the health of residents in our community and to promote health status improvement for all. Looking toward the future and to those that can benefit most from today's efforts it is important to remember that the lifestyle habits of our youth and children will determine the level of health and well being of tomorrow's adults. It is very important that, as a community, we focus on raising physically active and engaged children with good self-esteem, which will in turn produce productive adults with healthy habits and behaviors. This type of promotion and prevention has the potential to significantly reduce ever-increasing health costs for treatment individually, regionally and nationally.

Water supplied by the Edgartown Water Department (Town Water) is NOT subject to this recommendation for homeowner testing.

Additional information on nitrate nitrogen in drinking water can be found at the following websites:

http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/private/wells/disease/nitrate.html

http://www.umass.edu/nrec/watershed_water_quality/well-water-fact-sheets-pdf/nitrate.pdf