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Nitrate Removal Water Treatment

Removing nitrates from water is particularly important when infants are drinking the water. Infants are susceptible to methemoglobinemia--or blue baby syndrome--which causes hemoglobin in the blood to carry less oxygen. The Environmental Protection Agency set the maximum contaminant level for nitrates at 10 mg per liter. Understanding how to prevent, monitor and remove nitrates is necessary if you have your own water source, such as a well.

  1. Monitoring

    • It’s best to test well water at least once a year. Private labs charge $10 to $20 for nitrate and bacteria testing, according to a 2009 EPA website. Monitor the well for things such as cracks, broken or missing caps and settling. Keep records of test and inspection results so that you will know when any problems originated. If your property has or is near a septic tank, inspect it for damage. Keep in mind nitrate levels vary. If the well is in a farming area, it is wise to test in the spring, after fertilizers are applied.

    Prevention

    • Taking precautions to prevent nitrates from entering your well or spring is well-served. Know the potential sources of nitrates near your water supply. These include animal wastes, fertilizers, septic tanks, water main breaks and any other organic matter near the water source. A relatively small amount of nutrients entering water raises nitrate levels. A North Carolina State Water Quality website recommends wells be at least 100 feet above any possible contamination sources, building berms to divert runoff away from wellheads, and constructing concrete slabs around wellheads to prevent nitrates in the water.

    Reverse Osmosis

    • Reverse Osmosis is a system that pressurizes water, forcing it go through a filtering membrane. Such systems waste many gallons of water in the treatment process and are energy-intensive. RO units will almost never remove all nitrates and if not properly maintained, they may not remove any contaminants, a North Dakota State University agriculture website points out. To get a whole-house RO system operating properly in 2010 can cost about $4,000 to $8,000.

    Ion Exchange

    • Ion exchangers for nitrate removal trade chloride and sulfate ions for nitrate ions. Adding chloride is necessary after treating a number of gallons, as indicated in the manufacturer's directions. The Penn State University agricultural website says water that's high in sulfates reduces the effectiveness of ion exchangers in nitrate removal.

    New Water Source

    • Removing nitrates from water is difficult. Blending the water source with another to dilute the nitrate levels or finding an entirely new water source may be necessary. Blending is the least attractive of the two options as the original source could receive a higher load of nutrients, resulting, once again, in unacceptable nitrate levels. Finding and incorporating a new source of water may be a difficult and expensive process. But considering how readily nitrate dissolves in water, making it difficult to remove, and the expense of treatment options, it's the best alternative in some situations.

    Warning

    • Traditional safety precautions, such as boiling water, will not remove nitrates. Boiling water is likely to increase nitrate levels.

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