Well Water Nitrates | Articlesuper.com

Well Water Nitrates

POSTED BY admin on Feb 21, 2008 under Food and Drink

Nitrate is the primary source of Nitrogen for all plants and with out nitrogen plants cannot live. When soil contains more nitrate than plants can use the excess is carried through the soil and percolates beneath the ground and underlying rock. Excess nitrogen in the soil is caused by a number of different factors including fertilizer, manure, and sewage. Because they are so soluble and they do not bind to soils nitrates have a high potential to migrate to ground water. Many different forces are responsible for the migration of this compound including snowmelt, irrigation, and rainwater. Nitrates can migrate into the aquifer resulting in increased levels of the chemical in well water.

Once taken into the body nitrates are converted nitrites. Excessive levels in drinking water can cause serious illness and even death. Human babies are highly susceptible to nitrate poisoning because of certain bacteria that live in their digestive system during the first few months of life. The bacteria change the nitrate into a toxic nitrite compound. The nitrite reacts with the hemoglobin in the babies blood and forms a compound called methoglobin which is incapable of transporting oxygen. The babies health deteriorates due to the lack of oxygen and it gradually suffocates. The disorder is called methnoglobinemia and the symptoms include shortness of breath and blueness of the skin (blue babies disease.) Excess nitrates can affect adults a well and prolonged exposure to them in drinking water can produce dieresis and hemorrhaging of the spleen.

Because nitrates are tasteless and odorless they are undetectable if they are in your water supply. Because of their high solubility they are extremely hard to remove. There are several methods to ensure your drinking water is not contaminated by nitrates. Remember only water used for drinking or cooking needs to be treated.

Demineralization : Demineralization will remove nitrate and all other minerals from the water. This process is often known as distillation.

Reverse osmosis: is popular method available to demineralize water and remove contaminants.. In this process the water is put under pressure and forced through a membrane which filters out all minerals including nitrates.

It’s recommended that if your water tests positive for nitrate contamination that you find a new water supply. This is not always possible and could prove to be as daunting as the contamination problem itself. Reverse osmosis is the simplest way to deal with highly mineralized water. There are a variety of systems available and they are economical and highly effective for dealing with the problem of excessive hard water mineral levels.

For more information on pure water please visit http://www.reverse-osmosis-water.info

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