High Nitrates in tap water is that right??

[technium]

Just been changing water in my tanks and decided to check my tap water to see what results I get.

Anyway the water comes out as having nitrates of between 80 - 140 is that right, Surely the water should be that high straight from the tap . Is the water that comes from kitchen the same that comes out in the bath? as I tested the kitchen water (UK).

any ideas?

 

[Rodders]

In a UK house, water comes into the house.
Cold water is all the same.
Then, cold water goes into tank to be heater for hot water, then thats the same all round the house.

Let the water run through for a while, sometimes it can be sat in the pipes for a while. Then try it again.

 

[technium]

I know this may sound thick but I thought that the tap water in the bathroom was different to the kitchen which is why your told not to drink water from the bathroom or was that just one of those funny things your parents told you lol???

 

[BobK]

I think it is quite possible for tap water to have nitrates that high, although I admit that is really high. I think there are some products out there that absorb nitrates. That is aweful high and it has to be stressing the fish. How big is your tank? If its small you may want to consider buying distilled water. I think carbon absorbes nitrAtes. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[CFC]

Depending on the age of the property the bathroom and toilet water may come from a storage tank in the loft, the best way to test this is to flush the toilet and listen to see if the storage in the loft has to refill after. Most older properties will have this type of system installed with only the kitchen cold tap recieving direct mains quality water.

Nitrates in tapwater are not uncommon but shouldnt be as high as 140ppm which is way above public safety limits, the nitrates from our London tapwater average at around 40ppm but can rise to 80ppm in the summer months when usage is higher and they are having to turn it over quicker at the water works. I would see about investing in a tapwater purifier like a Nitragon tube for doing water changes as 140ppm is certainly in the levels considered dangerous to FW aquatic life.

 

[technium]

My tank size is a 150g and a 200g

Thanks CFC I think I will double check with another test kit tonight as that seems dangerously high.

My lfs sells 25l of RO water for £1 so perhaps may have to consider using that for water changes, no wonder my tanks have been fairly high in Nitrate these last few weeks, it seemed to be going up and up even after 50% water changes each week so perhaps thats it, Im adding high nitrates into the tank

anyway I will double check when I get home.

 

[technium]

Also does anyone have a Nitrogon setup? Ive heard you need to recharge after every 50g is that right because I have to change approx 50g for each tank every week so would be recharging all the time.

any info appreciated from someone who uses it.

Thanks

T

 

[Stryker]

Hi there,

Here in Walsall my tap water is as high as 40-80ppm in nitrates. In fact its been causing me some issues this Christmas.

I use bother nitrasafe and nitragon in my tank. My local LFS (who are on the same water supply) use a large container, put their tap water in that then drop in a few fluval filters with nitragon inside and leave it a few hours to clear up the water. Personally I don't have the time or space for that so I now simply have the two pouches in my filters in the fish tank.

They are like giant tea bags that you put in water flow, best place being in the filter. Every so often you have to recharge them as it were. To do this you take the pouch out the filter and give it a salt bath. The salt bath turns deep yellow/orange as the nitrates are expelled from the pouch.

Then you rinse the pouch and put it back into the filter.

Its a bit of an art. IE my nitrasafe pouch can absorb 1700MG of nitrates before it needs a recharge, so using their instructions you kind of have to roughly work it out based on your nitrate readings and tank volume.

HTH

 

[Bignose]

I would just like to point out that nitrate tests tend to be among the quickest to expire and give very poor test results, so a new test may be a wise investment. Nonetheless, it appears obvious that some nitrates are present, so preventative measures in that area probably would be helpful, too.