Nitrates are a compound found naturally in the earth but is a more common problem for well owners in Australia, particularly those living within agricultural or rural communities.
You can’t taste or smell nitrates, but consuming elevated levels of nitrates is very harmful to humans and animals.
In this article, we’ll attempt to educate you a little more on the topic of nitrates and share some water filters that remove nitrates from your family’s drinking water.
How Do Nitrates End Up In Your Water?
Nitrates are one of the most common contaminants found in drinking water around Australia.
This is because they're created by plant decomposition, animal waste or as an agricultural byproduct and can come from rainwater, floods or soil erosion which are introduced into groundwater supplies.
Fertilisers for gardens, flowers and crops all use nitrates to enrich the soil with nitrogen to flourish and remain healthy. However, when these fertilisers are carried by rain or floods into streams, lakes or rivers - our nitrate levels in the groundwater increase.
Our bodies can withstand a small number of nitrates, but excessive levels become harder and harder to detox.
How Nitrates Are Harmful To Humans
The World Health Organisation determined that nitrates are probably carcinogenic to humans, although the epidemiologic data on the dangers of long-term consumption of nitrates remain inconclusive.
Water Filters That Remove Nitrates
The CDC has confirmed that you can treat your water from nitrates using three different filtration methods:
- Reverse Osmosis
- Ion Exchange
- Distillation
Reverse Osmosis Water Filters Remove Nitrates
Reverse Osmosis is our number one recommendation for treating nitrates in your drinking water.
Reverse Osmosis will effectively remove up to 95% of nitrates in your water depending on your original water temperature, quality and system pressure.
Our Top Choices For Reverse Osmosis Water Filters
To help with the RO water system decision, first, work out whether you require an under sink or benchtop system.
If you require a Benchtop System for drinking, we recommend an RO 4000 Benchtop Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System with Standard Alkaline. You’ll get great tasting water with high alkalinity.
Otherwise, we recommend checking out the HPF 5 stage Reverse Osmosis Unit.
This 5 Stage Reverse Osmosis Unit is designed to remove all nitrates and other contamination to provide you with clean, great-tasting water and give a high alkaline pH reading between 8 – 9.5.
See our Buyers Guide to Reverse Osmosis to learn more about Reverse Osmosis and how to select the right system.
If you require any further information or need help selecting the perfect filtration system for your home, please feel free to contact us; we’d be happy to help.