Pretty Worried About My Incoming Tap Water

[Applecart]

Hi

Originally tested with Tetra 6-1 strips I became concerned about the cold water incoming NO3 content.
Upon advice, I bought an API freshwater master test kit and retested several times at different times of day, and after letting the tap run for 30 seconds each time before taking a water sample from the flowing water.

Sorry about these huge photo's ( below ) but I didn't want to resize them incase it altered the shade etc.

I'm having real trouble determining the ppm - mg/L figure

Photo's where taken in good light and the tube was almost upright and touching the test card.

I'd really like everyones opinion of what the resulting figure is.

The LEGAL limit in the UK for NO3 in drinking/tap water measured from the first cold water outlet in a household is 50mg/L (50ppm). The legal limit having been set there as it has been deemed that any figure above that is detrimental to human health. So this is rather important not just for the fish but everyone who is local to me sharing the same supply's health. I've done the test 12 times now and the result is always the same. The local water company I contacted said their regular testing said it was 36.5mg/L at the source ( hayeswater reservoir, which was last tested mid march ).

Is there a more accurate test available for purchase to the public so I can pin down the figure?
The person I emailed said he could arrange one of the employees to come test the water, but if the figure is over the legal limit, I wouldn't put it past them to fudge the test and cover their backsides incase OFWAT and DWI ( The Drinking Water Inspectorate ) got involved as the provider could be prosecuted and fined thousands of pounds for supplying unfit drinking water.
It'd be nice to know I'm not worrying over nothing or sensationalizing the situation.

Have a look at and see what you think. Please click to see original image size to help in determining the shade/figure, and please leave your ppm / mg/L opinion below, it'll only take you a few seconds.
Thankyou.
Richard.

 

[Sailfin Zach]

Thats pretty high you should do a at least 50 percent water change


And by the way i think 120 to 140

 

[Applecart]

Thats pretty high you should do a at least 50 percent water change
And by the way i think 120 to 140

How would I do a water change ? this is the test result for the incoming water supply to the house!
My drinking water!
I think you must have mis-read somewhere .. this is not my fish tank water.. it's my incoming cold water from the mains!

 

[Mikaila31]

the nitrate test kit is pretty inaccurate. IMO you should use it as an excuse to go heavily planted lol. There are private test labs in the US that do test drinking water, but IDK about the UK. I would trust the suppliers results though. I had 20ppm out of my tap for a long time and tanks ran about 40 which IMO looks kinda like your color. The nitrate test especially in the higher numbers gets really inaccurate. Either way 40ppm isn't something I would worry about its not going to bother many fish.

You can slightly increase the accuracy of the test by REALLY shaking those bottles for at least 2 minuets.

 

[Applecart]

the nitrate test kit is pretty inaccurate.~~ The nitrate test especially in the higher numbers gets really inaccurate.
You can slightly increase the accuracy of the test by REALLY shaking those bottles for at least 2 minuets.

Hmm the test gear came with the API master test kit for freshwater. And I even tried shaking for up to 5 mins! lol.
I'm more bothered about MY health at the moment than my fishy friends as I have to drink this water and at least the fish can have theirs treated before they get it. So are you saying it looks like 40ppm in the test result?
MAybe I should have created a poll

 

[TwoTankAmin]

My bet is the test is inaccurate based on the fact that nitrate levels that high would not be legally permitted in countries which have drinking water regulations and standards. Here is a quick fact from the Environmental Protection Agency in the USA:

In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act. This law requires EPA to determine the level of contaminants in drinking water at which no adverse health effects are likely to occur. These non-enforceable health goals, based solely on possible health risks and exposure over a lifetime with an adequate margin of safety, are called maximum contaminant level goals (MCLG). Contaminants are any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substances or matter in water.

The MCLG for nitrate is 10 mg/L or 10 ppm. EPA has set this level of protection based on the best available science to prevent potential health problems. EPA has set an enforceable regulation for nitrate, called a maximum contaminant level (MCL), at 10 mg/L or 10 ppm. MCLs are set as close to the health goals as possible, considering cost, benefits and the ability of public water systems to detect and remove contaminants using suitable treatment technologies. In this case, the MCL equals the MCLG, because analytical methods or treatment technology do not pose any limitation.

The Phase II Rule , the regulation for nitrate, became effective in 1992. The Safe Drinking Water Act requires EPA to periodically review the national primary drinking water regulation for each contaminant and revise the regulation, if appropriate. EPA reviewed nitrate as part of the Six Year Review and determined that the 10 mg/L or 10 ppm MCLG and 10 mg/L or 10 ppm MCL for nitrate are still protective of human health.

States may set more stringent drinking water MCLGs and MCLs for nitrate than EPA.

From http/water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/nitrate.cfm#four

 

[Applecart]

My bet is the test is inaccurate based on the fact that nitrate levels that high would not be legally permitted in countries which have drinking water regulations and standards. Here is a quick fact from the Environmental Protection Agency in the USA:

In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act. This law requires EPA to determine the level of contaminants in drinking water at which no adverse health effects are likely to occur. These non-enforceable health goals, based solely on possible health risks and exposure over a lifetime with an adequate margin of safety, are called maximum contaminant level goals (MCLG). Contaminants are any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substances or matter in water.

The MCLG for nitrate is 10 mg/L or 10 ppm. EPA has set this level of protection based on the best available science to prevent potential health problems. EPA has set an enforceable regulation for nitrate, called a maximum contaminant level (MCL), at 10 mg/L or 10 ppm.

From http/water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/nitrate.cfm#four

Our United Kingdom Legal limit is 50mg/L ( 50ppm ), which is 5x higher than the USA 10ppm limit to start with.


it's not uncommon for comanies to breach regulations through lack of care etc.. my water company are always getting their wrists slapped and from what I can find so far the last major incident involved unfit drinking water supplied due to cryprosporidium in the supply to public households. Their own regular testing at source shows 36.5ppm, so what are the chances of a pollutant somewhere between the 'source' that they test, and my cold water tap? It's not impossible considering the number of leaks and pipe failures the UK companies have on their books, and I'm in a rural location.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Our United Kingdom Legal limit is 50mg/L ( 50ppm ), which is 5x higher than the USA 10ppm limit to start with.


it's not uncommon for comanies to breach regulations through lack of care etc.. my water company are always getting their wrists slapped and from what I can find so far the last major incident involved unfit drinking water supplied due to cryprosporidium in the supply to public households. Their own regular testing at source shows 36.5ppm, so what are the chances of a pollutant somewhere between the 'source' that they test, and my cold water tap? It's not impossible considering the number of leaks and pipe failures the UK companies have on their books, and I'm in a rural location.

The US figure for nitrate is expressed as nitrate-nitrogen, whereas in the UK we express it as nitrate, so to make it equivalent to the UK standard you have to multiply by 4.4 which gives 44ppm...not all that different to our 50ppm limit.

You are right that being in a rural area you'll be more susceptible to runoff from farmland and this could give a figure above the allowed 50ppm limit. However, the API test (and all hobby nitrate tests) are not very accurate, not least of all because it is hard to differentiate the colours.

You could have high nitrate but if you phone the water company and tell them you're using an API nitrate test they'd just laugh at you.

If you have a source of nitrate free water, such as distilled water, you could dilute the sample down to get it into the 10ppm range where there is a better differentiation of colour on the card.

Also test your source for nitrite as that will register as nitrate on the nitrate test. It should be zero, the limit being 0.5ppm in the UK, but you never know.

 

[Applecart]

If you have a source of nitrate free water, such as distilled water, you could dilute the sample down to get it into the 10ppm range where there is a better differentiation of colour on the card.

Also test your source for nitrite as that will register as nitrate on the nitrate test. It should be zero, the limit being 0.5ppm in the UK, but you never know.

Thankyou Prime that's a very good suggestion. If I get a nitrate free source ( possibly distilled water from Halfords? ) then mix it 50:50 with my tap water source and retest I should see half the original samples outcome.

So, I'll get a 1 litre of distilled and mix it with 1 litre tap water, then sample the 5ml from that.

 

[Aqua Tom]

That looks realy high'

The way I would read that would be that it is darker than 80ppm but not as dark as 160ppm so split the difference & that gives you 120ppm (ish)

 

[Prime Ordeal]

If you have a source of nitrate free water, such as distilled water, you could dilute the sample down to get it into the 10ppm range where there is a better differentiation of colour on the card.

Also test your source for nitrite as that will register as nitrate on the nitrate test. It should be zero, the limit being 0.5ppm in the UK, but you never know.

Thankyou Prime that's a very good suggestion. If I get a nitrate free source ( possibly distilled water from Halfords? ) then mix it 50:50 with my tap water source and retest I should see half the original samples outcome.

So, I'll get a 1 litre of distilled and mix it with 1 litre tap water, then sample the 5ml from that.

Yes, Halfords distilled water will do fine. Take a small amount of tank water, you could use your API vials to get 5ml, and then add 45ml of distilled water. If you have a syringe use that as it will be more accurate.

That will dilute by ten times, so whatever you read off the chart when you test it needs to be multiplied by 10 to get the real value.

 

[Gilli]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just put a lot of live plants in there, don't overfeed and at each weekly water change give it a really thorough gravel vac all of which will help.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just put a lot of live plants in there, don't overfeed and at each weekly water change give it a really thorough gravel vac all of which will help.

That's not going to change the fact that he's potentially drinking water with 120ppm or more of nitrate in it!

 

[Gilli]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just put a lot of live plants in there, don't overfeed and at each weekly water change give it a really thorough gravel vac all of which will help.

That's not going to change the fact that he's potentially drinking water with 120ppm or more of nitrate in it!

I think he is getting a false reading somehow. I cant see the water board who must have highly advanced and accurate testing equipment letting it get to dangerous levels - people would be suing left right and centre!

Just a thought have you checked the sell by date on the test kit? You may also of course have a faulty nitrate test bottle that has somehow got contaminated.

 

[CezzaXV]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just put a lot of live plants in there, don't overfeed and at each weekly water change give it a really thorough gravel vac all of which will help.

That's not going to change the fact that he's potentially drinking water with 120ppm or more of nitrate in it!

I think he is getting a false reading somehow. I cant see the water board who must have highly advanced and accurate testing equipment letting it get to dangerous levels - people would be suing left right and centre!

True, but bear in mind that most people don't have reason to test their water at all. We're part of a small group who do and may need to speak up if we spot something seriously wrong.