For a home, two systems take nitrate out of well water: a whole-house anion exchange system with nitrate-selective resin, and a reverse osmosis unit at one faucet. Boiling, softeners, carbon filters and UV lights do not. Here is how the whole-house system works, the order the tanks go in on a well, what reverse osmosis really takes out, what to drink until the system is in, and who installs it.
Test first, then buy only what the test calls for. Most wells need one or two systems. Sand takes a sediment filter; rust or black stains and a rotten egg smell take an iron filter; hard water takes a softener; blue-green stains take an acid neutralizer; bacteria takes a UV light. Of 344 well tests my customers sent in, more than half showed one of those problems or none. Here is the match, with today's price for each system.
For a home, two systems take nitrate out of well water: a whole-house anion exchange system with nitrate-selective resin, and a reverse osmosis unit at one faucet. Boiling, softeners, carbon filters and UV lights do not. Here is how the whole-house system works, the order the tanks go in on a well, what reverse osmosis really takes out, what to drink until the system is in, and who installs it.
Test first, then buy only what the test calls for. Most wells need one or two systems. Sand takes a sediment filter; rust or black stains and a rotten egg smell take an iron filter; hard water takes a softener; blue-green stains take an acid neutralizer; bacteria takes a UV light. Of 344 well tests my customers sent in, more than half showed one of those problems or none. Here is the match, with today's price for each system.
