Wells installed in the buffers allow us to sample nitrate levels at the edge of the field and close to the ditch.

Water samples have been collected from 60 wells at the Parrott Farm since the spring of 2000. These samples were analyzed for nitrate in the Soil Science Department at NC State. The graphs below show that, as groundwater moves from fields through buffers to ditches, there is a substantial reduction in nitrate concentration in the water.