Nitrates in well water

[gspren]

 We have a contract on a house, we are downsizing off the farm, and got the results from a water test, Nitrates 13.4, acceptable is 10, the realtor says that number is only a concern for pregnant woman and infants. Any opinions or solutions other than bottled water? Realtor also said that the water on the farm is probably just as high we just never checked it.

[doc henderson]

talk with a local well guy.  a cup of bleach down the well usually helps.  we had borderline nitrates for a while out in hays.  great tasting.  if it has sat idle for a while (house on the market) it may increase it as well.  our property had 2 wells.  one that had low flow and would cavitate, and a high flow one with nitrates.  we got the loan with the poor out put well, then switched over to the other.   cup of bleach, let set, then run water until no more chlorine smell.  eventually the old galvanized casing gave way and we drilled a new well.  it was fresh and put out 40g/m.  could shower, water 2 zones in the yard and flush the toilet, no change in flow.  the elder lady I bought the house from would come by on Sunday after church and always asked if she could have a glass of the good water.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Can you install a water conditioner/filter that would remove some of the excess nitrates? It may not be a huge cost to do so especially for your drinking water. It doesn't sound like it would be harmful for other uses.

   If it was nitrite I'd be asking you for some to use the next time I go to make a batch of corned venison. : I don't know what nitrates get used for but I am sure we all get too many of them.

[doc henderson]

after the bleach, may get it retested.  let it run a bit as well...no pun originally intended.  

[doc henderson]

not sure if this fits with your style, but could get and offset on price to help with the well fix.  a banker might say you need a new well, if you are borrowing money from them.

[hedgerow]

gspren.  
If nitrates is the only problem with the well water a reverse osmosis system just for the drinking water may be the cheapest way to go. I doubt shocking the well will help with nitrates. I would talk to the local well guy and see how they handle this issue in your area. I have lived on two farms in the last 40 years and had to carry drinking water to both. The first farm I lived on for twenty years I had to dig a new well and put a new conditioning system in at the tune of 25 grand to be able to sell the house and buildings off the farm as a acreage. When we started the process of getting the house and buildings cut off the farm I didn't think it was going to cost me almost 35 grand to sell the place. By the time the lawyers, sewer guy, county and the well guy got done with us it was 35 grand. This was almost twenty years ago. We were lucky and the house sit in a hot acreage market and I sold it myself. The second couple that looked at it bought it at asking price. First couple called back later and wanted it. They are still living there today. I  own the farms around them. 

[Runningalucas]

I treat my well once a year with bleach; works well just as doc said.

[reride82]

As a background, I do aquifer research and design septic systems to non-degradation standards in Montana.

Doc and others: Bleach has zero effect on Nitrates, it can only be removed through ionization, distillation, and reverse osmosis. Bleach does remove bacterial growth and is recommended as a shock treatment after a new well is drilled and periodically thereafter.

Give me a background on the well and the area so I can give you a suggestion on remedying the problem: tract of land size, age of well and septic, nearest adjacent house both up and down aquifer, and depth of well. Most issues are caused by poor septic systems upstream(within the aquifer), livestock manure or corrals too close to the well, improperly cemented wells, and in rare cases naturally occurring nitrates. How close is the nearest septic system?

In Montana, acceptable nitrates is 5.0 ppm, problems start occurring at 10 ppm. At 13.4 ppm, I'd be concerned unless you plan on treating the drinking water.

The worst one I've dealt with had a well drilled in the middle of a goat pen, and they had a compost/manure pile stockpiled uphill from the well and it wasn't cemented correctly so there was compost tea running down the outside of the well casing into the aquifer. They ended up abandoning the existing well and drilling a new well 200' away up-aquifer. Hopefully that isn't the case for you.

Levi

[doc henderson]

I will not disagree.  the concern is for methemoglobinemia.  and if there is a source of nitrogenous waste you do not want to drink that either.  our water had an off smell and the bleach cleared that for months at a time.  no live stock around and only one male at the time that went outside to pee.    we had the well retested when my wife was pregnant and it tested fine.  The prev. owner had a tree nursery, but he had been gone for ten years.  new well eventually dug 50 feet from the old one.  Our relatives in Texas have sulfur smell to their water and the treatment was to alkalinize the water.  we thought we had some bacteria in the well, and the bleach killed it and got rid of the smell, and the nitrates came down.

[gspren]

@reride82 , this is a house we are trying to buy, just got the water report yesterday. The house on 1.8 acres was built in 2006 and the well and septic were all done then as were the neighboring properties, formerly farm ground and woods. It's probably 200' between well and sand mound septic, further from neighbors, don't know depth. From some quick research 13.4 shouldn't be too big of a concern for us seniors but bad for infants and pregnant women. To only treat the drinking water their appears to be some "filters" that reduce nitrates by having some sort of resin in them that attracts it and a few hundred bucks can have that set up. We may initially just drink mostly bottled water until I get more info. We are under a contract but won't settle till late May or early June, we also won't be there all of the time. We don't want to push too hard on the widow that is selling as it took us two years to find a nice ranch style house where I can put up a 3,000 Sq ft building.

[reride82]

1.8 acres is fairly small for a well and septic, since the lot is less than 300 feet square but it still shouldn't be causing the huge spike in nitrates unless there are dozens upstream. The sand mound septic definitely helps, do you know if it is pressure dosed or gravity fed? Since it was done in 2006 I would assume there were some degradation calculations done, but I don't know the regs in your area. 13.4 ppm isn't a concern for most adults, but for the young, pregnant, and some elderly it can lead to methemoglobinemia as Doc suggested. Some people are more genetically inclined to it as well, so maybe a talk with your physician might be in order just to make sure you or your family won't have an issue. Some filters reduce it, and a reverse osmosis unit will remove the threat almost entirely, either whole house or point of use. Good luck on the purchase and I can't wait for the shop build!

Levi

[Don P]

Old farm ground, can it be fertilizer?

[doc henderson]

can test for soil nitrates and phosphates.

[Technoid]

I'm a retired worker from a major water utility on Long Island. Bleach will not remove nitrates. Bleach only kills H2s (Hydrogen sulfide) and bacteria. And carbon filtration will not capture nitrates. One of our water plants in Eastern long Island had a nitrate removal plant. It's a process using salt brine to remove the nitrates. Not a cheap process. And it takes continuous lab sampling to keep things in check. I would check with water treatment suppliers and see what's available for the home owner. Good luck.

[Old Greenhorn]

Technoid, welcome to the forum. Could you fill out some of your profile so we can tell where you are? As far as I know, you are the first member I have seen here from Long Island and am wondering where you are? From other posts you've made I am tryin to guess where you might be with a tractor, logs, and 15 cords/yr as a burning habit. ;D
 I hope you enjoy your time here.