Tap water has Nitrites, should I add a filter to my sink?

[Colin_T]

Back in the Olden Days, when it were all trees round here, etc., people would keep a large open-topped barrel or tub, to collect rainwater for the garden. Fishkeepers learned that this water was actually mature and suitable for their aquariums, when heavily chlorinated water from their taps was not. (Life before water conditioners, remember). Such tubs didn't have plants and it was the simple process of leaving the water to sit awhile that removed the unhealthy (for fish) elements to dissipate.

Rain water was cleaner back then and shouldn't contain many impurities unless you live in an industrial area or have lots of traffic driving past.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Hmmm, could my kitchen faucet have something in it that would be causing nitrites then?

Not likely, unless your water sits in a seawge pipe before reaching you.

Because if a filter wouldn't remove it (I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't), that would lead me to think its coming from the kitchen faucet.

No...there are chemical filters and chemical/biological filters. Nitrates and nitrites are way too tiny to be remove mechanically, by physical filter media.
There are chemical processes that can remove those substances, but these are complex enough to negate their use in domestic settings and are thus the responsibility of water companies.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Rain water was cleaner back then and shouldn't contain many impurities unless you live in an industrial area or have lots of traffic driving past.

Actually, there was way, way more particulate matter from factory chimneys and home fires in the atmosphere, especially coal home fires. It was found that allowing water to stand awhile removed even these.

In the UK they have nitrate in a lot of their tap water.

In some parts of the UK, please!
In a recent dry spell, we were informed that our water supply would change to 50% lake water, 50% borehole water, instead of a 75/25% ratio. During that period, I noticed my tap water acquired 2ppm of nitrate. I contacted the water board to inform them of this, just out of interest and they told me that this was likely due to a series of broken pipes they were currently working on. That said, I got a visit three days later, with guys wielding test tubes, who confirmed my readings and they returned a week later to show zero readings.

 

[Mustangfreak]

Not likely, unless your water sits in a seawge pipe before reaching you.

Well........my area has recently had a huge boom in red tide and lots of fish kills from a leak at a water processing plant, wonder if that could have affected the city water as well.

UPDATED April 25, 2022: A Rundown of the Piney Point Wastewater Leak

Polluted wastewater at an abandoned phosphate mine in Manatee County was pumped into Tampa Bay to stop a leak.

www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu

 

[Mustangfreak]

How would I prevent mosquitos using the water butt as a breeding ground though? Or other pests for that matter as well.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Well........my area has recently had a huge boom in red tide and lots of fish kills from a leak at a water processing plant, wonder if that could have affected the city water as well.

UPDATED April 25, 2022: A Rundown of the Piney Point Wastewater Leak

Polluted wastewater at an abandoned phosphate mine in Manatee County was pumped into Tampa Bay to stop a leak.

www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu

Sounds likely.

How would I prevent mosquitos using the water butt as a breeding ground though? Or other pests for that matter as well.

Back in the day, such critters would be considered to be valuable live food, especially mosquito larvae.
You could get a water butt with a lid.

 

[Colin_T]

just scoop the mozzie larvae out with a net and feed them to the fish
nothing else will appear in there

 

[Mustangfreak]

Sounds likely.

Back in the day, such critters would be considered to be valuable live food, especially mosquito larvae.
You could get a water butt with a lid.

Wouldn't a lid prevent the plants from getting light?

 

[Mustangfreak]

I have two poly 55 gallon drums at work that we don't use or need. But they were sometimes used to store off-spec product (Either 50% Urea liquid, or Calcium-Nitrate liquid fertilizer), could I get these cleaned up enough to be used for a butt?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Wouldn't a lid prevent the plants from getting light?

You don't need plants.
In a tank, plants do take up nitrates, but these aren't necessary in a water butt, where you're just going to let the water sit awhile.

I have two poly 55 gallon drums at work that we don't use or need. But they were sometimes used to store off-spec product (Either 50% Urea liquid, or Calcium-Nitrate liquid fertilizer), could I get these cleaned up enough to be used for a butt?

Provided they were totally cleaned! (I'm guessing, having forgotten most of my chemistry degree, you could test the water, using your test kit).

 

[Spyro]

Can't offer much for removing nitrite from tap water apart from putting the water in a container with floating plants and let them use it. Then using the water for the fish tank.

You should contact your water supply company and tell them there is nitrite in the water. Nitrites are poisonous to all animals and cause cancer if regularly ingested or ingested in large amounts. If the water company doesn't care, contact the press and government because water should be free of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, even if it isn't in some parts of the world.

GL with that!
In Australia safe for drinking water standards for Nitrite are 100mg/l. Bit less for Nitrates (I think 50, but can't remember for sure).
Which is like 100ppm and 50ppm

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

GL with that!
In Australia safe for drinking water standards for Nitrite are 100mg/l. Bit less for Nitrates (I think 50, but can't remember for sure).
Which is like 100ppm and 50ppm

That explains so, so much! I often wondered why you guys were usually stark, raving bonkers! It's the water! (Also explains your penchant for the tinny).

 

[Spyro]

That explains so, so much! I often wondered why you guys were usually stark, raving bonkers! It's the water! (Also explains your penchant for the tinny).

Don't tell anyone, but: water has nothing on food. Some of the healthy leafy veggies have levels up to 1400mg/kg

 

[Essjay]

The maximum allowed in the UK are:
Ammonia 0.5 ppm
Nitrite 0.5 ppm
Nitrate 50 ppm on the nitrate-NO3 scale*


* We need to be careful comparing maximum allowed nitrate in different countries as there are two scales used to measure nitrate.
The UK uses the scale nitrate-NO3, the same as our test kits. Other countries use the scale nitrate-N.
50 ppm nitrate NO3 = 11.3 ppm nitrate-N

 

[Mustangfreak]

Got an update! I contacted my county about the water containing nitrites, they came out and sampled the line and said it was either 0.269mg/L of Nitrite, or 0.0269mg/L. I looked up the conversion to ppm and its simple, its either 0.269 ppm or 0.0269ppm. So how am I getting 5+ out of my tap?? I began to wonder if it was the little screw on piece at the end of the faucet, so I took it off and ran the water at full flow for a few seconds, then sampled the water. No Nitrites. I put the screw on piece back on, sample that, boom, 5ppm+ Nitrites!


Glad to have found the source, and glad to know that no one drinks from it either.