nitrite in my tap water!

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glenna
Posts: 484
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 7:28 pm
Location: Sanford, NC

nitrite in my tap water!

Post by glenna » Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:51 am

Well I got up early this am to do some tank work and was setting up a quarantine tank and tested the NEW water going in, and YIKES there were a LOT of nitrites in there (also some nitrates, but less than 5. I have 9 tanks, so will use the dipsticks (Tetra easy strips) as sort of a screening tool.
I have several different bottles of strips and so did the test several times and with strips from different kits, still high (like over 5PPM high).
I do not check the tap water EVERY time, but did this morning since I could not remember if I added the Prime. I have gotten so used to dependable water from the tap, that now I am not sure what to do (other than contact the water company when they open this morning). I guess I have been foolish to trust what is coming out of the tap.

I have a Hanna nitrate tester, but not one for nitrites.

any thoughts or suggestions? Needless to say, I am ON HOLD for water changes Today
glenna

UVvis
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:51 pm
Location: Central Florida

Re: nitrite in my tap water!

Post by UVvis » Tue Oct 02, 2012 10:42 am

I'd contact the municipal water provider quickly.

Tanks aside, that is over USEPA drinking water limits for nitrites. (I think it's 1PPM Nitrogen as Nitrite). The provider will have to take steps quickly to remidiate the issue. They can also verify your water quality tests.

It is hard to get nitrites out of water, but if you have a spare established filter I'd use that and a holding tank to let the NO2 be oxidized to NO3... Then you are adding nitrates...

Diana
Posts: 4675
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 am
Location: Near San Franciso

Re: nitrite in my tap water!

Post by Diana » Thu Oct 04, 2012 5:15 pm

I would not do water changes with this water directly.
Contact the water company. If the problem is going to be fixed in a few days, just hold off.

If the problem goes on for more than a few days:
Some ways to make the water safer:

A) If you have several well cycled tanks each tank donates some filter media and you set up a garbage can of water from the tap. Add dechlor. Run the filter media in an extra filter, or just dump the filter media in the garbage can and circulate it with any sort of pump. A fountain pump, power head, good sized air bubbler...
Test to see when the ammonia and nitrite read zero ppm, then do water changes. You may have to ration water changes depending on how fast the bacteria in the filter can deal with the nitrite. Using nitrifying bacteria will be turning the nitrite into nitrate, which is not so great, but is much better than nitrite.

B) Read more info about the dechlor you are using. Some (Prime is one) will also lock up a certain amount of nitrite. There are other products that may be specific for nitrite, but I am not sure.

C) If you can set up the garbage can in an area with REALLY GOOD light, then add floating plants like Water Lettuce. This one is quite greedy for nitrogen, and gets its CO2 from the air, so will help remove a lot of nitrite from the tap water, and nitrate when the bacteria have converted NO2 to NO3. Most plants are not as fond of nitrite or nitrate as they are of ammonia, but removal of any of these materials by the plants will leave less nitrogen (in any form) to get into the tank.

If there is any doubt that a trace of nitrite may be getting into the tanks you can add 1 teaspoon of salt (sodium chloride) per 20 gallons. This is a very low dose, well tolerated by plants and just about all fish.

Live plants in the tank will also help, as long as the plants are thriving. They will remove nitrogen from the water. When you trim the plants you are exporting nitrogen from the system. Do not allow dead leaves to remain in the tank.

You can feed less, too. This will reduce the other major source of nitrogen to the tanks.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

glenna
Posts: 484
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 7:28 pm
Location: Sanford, NC

Re: nitrite in my tap water!

Post by glenna » Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:32 am

Thanks for the help!

I have already cut the feeds in half (believe me, my fish won't starve!), and have live plants in all the tanks, already. I did one water change with distilled water, which is probably not the best choice, but they tolerated it well (I have very soft water in the tap, but the TDS was still a big change, so I did it quite slowly).

It looks like the problem will not be solved very quickly (it is three days now and the water company is not moving on this very quickly despite my daily phone calls)

I purchased an RO filter which is supposed to make 100 gallons per day, but it is a 6 stage filter and is VERY SLOW (I had to hook it up to a sink so the water pressure is not maximal, thus the flow out is not to specs).I am hoping the plumber will be able to come soon to hook it up in a better fashion.
I have some R/O Right on the way to add back in the minerals, but went ahead and did a change with it since I felt like it was better than nitrates 30!!!!!!


thanks again, and will keep you posted!
glenna

UVvis
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:51 pm
Location: Central Florida

Re: nitrite in my tap water!

Post by UVvis » Fri Oct 05, 2012 9:45 am

Glenna,

I would consider asking your water supplier if they have the number for the state or local EPA branch. If your reading is accurate, they are in violation of legally enforceable standards. Nitrites in drinking water are typically from sewage/septic leak or fertilizer run off unless you live downstream from nitrite mines... This can be a potential indicator that they would need to address quickly.

My point is, it is unacceptable, and they should be taking steps to deal with it ASAP. Granted, I'm a chemist that deals with aquarium water chemistry professionally, but honestly, I'd start calling to ask to talk with supervisors, managers, anyone in charge as they understand the allowable limits of such things. Fish health aside, it is also a public health issue (hard on small things like babies)... If you aren't getting anywhere, consider calling a local news agency, they are annoying but typically get things moving by drawing more attention to the issue.

I'm not trying to come across as an alarmist jerk, but this partially my profession.

So aside from what we've mentioned:
Ozone is another treatment, you can oxidize nitrite to nitrate.

Bio filters and plants are still the best IMO...

Keep us updated!

Diana
Posts: 4675
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 am
Location: Near San Franciso

Re: nitrite in my tap water!

Post by Diana » Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:37 pm

Ditto UVvis:
Nitrite causes some very serious problems for people who drink the water.
The fish problem, Brown Blood Disease is the same issue in humans: Nitrite alters the blood so it does not carry oxygen very well.

Get on that water company and start getting your neighbors to call in, too. Definitely speak with managers, higher ups and so on.

Here is just a little bit of the information out there about Nitrite.

http://dhss.delaware.gov/dph/files/nitratefaq.pdf

Maybe this can help:

http://www.ncwater.org/pws/index.htm
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

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