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Well Water Risks & Filters
Don't Drink Excessive Nitrates & Iron
and who knows what else
Drink Pure Healthy Water
Nitrates and lead are two of the common contaminants of rural well water. The greatest use of nitrates is in fertilizer, so the greatest source of nitrates in well water is agriculture runnoff. Nitrates combine with various organic and inorganic compounds. Once taken into the body, they are converted to nitrites.
Iron is found in almost all groundwater and well water because rain falls and picks it up as it runs through soil, depositing it in the water.
Our usualchoice for well water filters is a two-canister system combining a nitrate-removing cartridge with another with both kdf and carbon media. As you may know, friendsofwater.com reviews and selects water products that do what they should and are a good value. Many alternative well water filters do not do everything they should - or they remove too much and leave unhealthy acidic water.
However, with well water, you need to get a water test done to know what it is you are dealing with. When you have that, give us a call and we can advise you and configure a system appropriate for your circumstances.
This page describes the risks associated with drinking well water and
introduces our well water filters.
For detailed information about what our water filters do in addition to removing nitrates, click water filter info.
You can click here or below if you wish to go straight to . You can click here or below if you wish to go straight to water filters in the store,
Health Effects of NitratesShort-term, excessive levels of nitrates in drinking well water can cause serious illness and sometimes death. The greatest risk appears to be for babies. They can get methemoglobinemia or "blue baby". This serious illness in infants is due to the conversion of nitrate to nitrite by the body, which happens more readily in their young digestive tracts, and which can interfere with the oxygen-carrying capacity of the child's blood. Babies consume large quantities of water in relation to their body weight. The result can be an acute condition in which health deteriorates rapidly over a period of days. Symptoms include shortness of breath and blueness of the skin. Although nitrate levels that affect infants do not necessarily pose a direct threat to older children and adults, they do indicate the possible presence of other more serious residential or agricultural contaminants, such as bacteria or pesticides.
Longer term, a continued exposure at above acceptable maximums can cause diureses (increased urination due to material in the kidney tubules), increased starchy deposits and hemorrhaging of the spleen.
Consuming well water with nitrate levels near the drinking water standard does not normally increase the methemoglobin level of humans beyond infancy. Some individuals, however, may have increased susceptibility to methemoglobinemia due to exposure to antioxidant medications and chemicals, or other conditions that may inhibit the body's ability to reconvert methemoglobin to hemoglobin (such as pregnancy or certain rare diseases). The effect on any given person depends on many factors, including other sources of nitrate and nitrite in the diet. Some of the nitrate consumed can be converted in the body to nitrite, which under some circumstances can combine with amines (portions of protein molecules often found in foods, medications, cigarette smoke, decaying plants, soil, and sometimes water) to form nitrosamines, well- documented cancer-causing substances. So far, the only studies linking nitrate in drinking water with cancer have involved nitrate levels that are quite high (at or above 100-200 mg/l nitrate-N).
Over the long term, continued exposure at above acceptable levels can cause diuresis (increased urination due to material in the kidney tubules), increased starchy deposites and hemorrhaging of the spleen.
Sources
Nitrate in groundwater originates primarily from fertilizers, septic systems, and manure storage or spreading operations. Fertilizer nitrogen that is not taken up by plants, volatilized, or carried away by surface runoff leaches to the groundwater and well water in the form of nitrate. This not only makes the nitrogen unavailable to crops, but also can elevate the concentration in well water above the levels acceptable for drinking water quality. Nitrogen from manure similarly can be lost from fields, barnyards, or storage locations. Septic systems also can elevate well water nitrate concentrations because they remove only half of the nitrogen in wastewater, leaving the remaining half to percolate to groundwater.
Since they are very soluble and do not bind to soils, nitrates have a high potential to migrate to ground water. Because they don't evaporate, nitrates are likely to remain in water until consumed by plants or other organisms (like your family)..
Monitoring & Filtering
The EPA monitors water once a year and if nitrates are above 50% of the maximum allowed, monitoring is increased to every three months. If contaminants are found to be consistently above maximum allowable levels, then the supplier must address the problem. We're very glad the EPA is doing this monitoring. However we suggest it isn't adequate for you to really know your drinking water is safe. "Blue baby" happens is dramatically short order. Usually, for a few hundred dollars you can get a very effective filter system for your kitchen to clean your well water so you know that your family is drinking healthy water.
In addition to nitrates, these well water filters will remove heavy metals including lead, sediment, algae, molds, scale, bad taste, odors, chlorine and hundreds of contaminants. Bacteria cannot grow in the carbon because of copper-zinc kdf.
Because nitrate does not evaporate the way chlorine does, boiling, freezing, or letting water stand does not reduce the nitrate level. In fact, boiling water for more than 10 minutes can make the nitrate more concentrated. Boiling water in an aluminum pan may also convert nitrate to nitrite. By definition, we can't know bacterial levels in your well water, and therefore cannot guarantee 100% bacterial removal. These filters, however, have top-grade carbon and kdf. Kdf is bacteriostatic, meaning bacteria cannot grow in the carbon. Carbon is excellent for removing bacteria.
Other IssuesWell water users can sometimes experience odor or staining problems on appliances and laundry. Here are several of the more common issues:. - A rotten egg odor suggests hydrogen sulfide and methane
- A musty or moldy odor is associated with iron bacteria
- Red staining of fixtures indicates a high iron level
- Brown or black staining of you white laundry indicates manganes
And that's not the whole story. With well water you need to know what you start with in order to filter it properly. You may have extreme levels of bacteria, lead, sulphur or sediment. These can be dealt with, but we'd rather you spoke with us to make sure we get you the right well water filter and filter materials. For example, there are different 'versions' of kdf we can put into your filters so that your well water's particular issues are best addressed..
Our 2-canister kitchen well water filters and our whole house 2-tank system, combined with an undercounter well water nitrates filter will address all of these issues. There is a limit to what a reasonably priced well water filter can do. Get your well water tested, and call us with the results. We'll determine which of our filters will work for you, in any, or if they would need to be combined with additional filtration.
Friends of Water can be reached at:
866-482-6803
or
sales@friendsofwater.com
AlternativesThe Natural Resouces Cornell Cooperative Extension, in a report called Nitrate: Health Effects in Drinking Water, notes the following:
"A properly operating distillation system will remove nitrate, but is quite expensive to install and operate and must be adjusted properly. Reverse-osmosis units are another option, but also are expensive to install and operate. Anion-exchange units are relatively inexpensive, but have the serious drawback of being effective for only a short period of time (a matter of months, depending on the contents of the water) before the unit becomes saturated and needs to be recharged. For any treatment unit, frequent water testing is necessary to determine whether the system is still working effectively."
We don't see the dates of this study, but the authors don't seem to be aware of the well water filters we are selling. The nitrates water filter we sell uses anion-exchange and does 7500 parts per million. Certainly the amount of nitrates in the water will affect how long the filter media lasts, but our well water filters need to be changed in many situations only once a year. The other media in the second canister (in a kitchen water filter) - kdf and carbon - should be changed once a year.
To visit the website with this report, click on: nitrate health effects In "Nitrate - a drinking water concern", authors from the Institute for Environmental Toxicology and the Institute of Water Research at Michigan State University say the following:
"Groundwater is the source of drinking water for nearly half the population of the United States. The purity of this water has become a health concern because a number of potentially toxic substances have been discovered in groundwater serving communities throughout the nation. Many of these compounds are naturally occuring substances that have always been present in the environment. One of the most common examples is nitrate." To visit the website with this full report, click on nitrate drinking concern
To read more about water filtration and what else our water filters do, click on water filters info.
To see well water filters in the store, click on water filters.
We also can configure a whole house well water filtration system for you, with a whole house water filter system plus an extra filter at your kitchen sink for extra-pure drinking water.
To see our Whole House Combos, click on house filters to see how we do it.
Then give us a call and we'll figure out what is best for your circumstances.
 
Undercounter & Countertop Models
We have one undercounter well water filter, and two countertop models. The undercounter well water filter comes with an "extra faucet" that goes through the extra hole in your sink. Each of the countertop well water filters gives you the option of the water flowing back to your sink faucet or coming out a spout at the water filters as shown above.
The countertop well water water filters in both chrome and white.
Every one of these well water filters removes more than 600 contaminants including arsenic, lead, heavy metals, trihalomethanes, pesticides and chlorine in much the same way that Mother Earth uses the minerals in the rocks and ground to clean water as it runs through to the aquifers.
If you're still reading we have to assume you're pretty serious about this. We've done the homework. Get yourself a well water filter. If you're not happy for any reason we'll give you a full refund within 90 days. Additionally, the water filter units (not the replaceable filters) have a pro-rated five year manufacturer's warranty.
We also have put together reduced-pricing 'bundles' combining drinking water filters with shower and bath filters, and for the gardeners a garden filter. We call these our Whole House Water Filter Alternatives.
For information on Whole House Water Filter Alternatives, as well as Whole House Water Filters
and Whole House Water Bundles click here: whole house options.
The whole house alternatives are shown with fluoride-removing water filters. We can substitute well water filters to remove nitrates at your kitchen sink if you prefer. Just give us a call.
Please click below to visit the store.
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Well Water Filters
Friends of Water guarantees everything we sell.
If you aren't satisfied, you can take up to 90 days to
return any product for a full refund.
If you need some help,
we'd be delighted to help you figure which filter would be best for you.
Call us. We're easy to talk to.
If we can't answer, we'll get back to you soon.
Friends of Water can be reached at:
866-482-6803
or
sales@friendsofwater.com
We'll never give your email to anyone else.
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