Reverse Osmosis can remove around 95% of nitrates and up to 80% of the ammonium in water. Ammonia needs catalytic oxidation processes to remove it from water, but most ammonia will change to ammonium in water and can be removed by reverse osmosis. The semi-permeable osmosis membrane removes these contaminants making the water safe to drink.
According to the EPA, drinking water should not have more than 10 mg/L of nitrates or 32.5 mg/L of ammonia. If your tap water or well water has excess nitrates and ammonia, it is a problem that needs to be fixed quickly, and a reverse osmosis system is an effective method of doing that.
This article will explain the difference between what nitrates and ammonia, and how effective reverse osmosis is at removing each of these contaminants from water. We also recommend some reliable reverse osmosis systems for nitrate and ammonium removal.
Nitrates Vs Ammonia
Nitrates
Nitrates are inorganic compounds of oxygen and nitrogen.
They are found almost everywhere, including in our atmosphere, but they are mostly found in soil and water.
Nitrates enter the environment from animal waste (yes, feces), plant decomposition, and also as agricultural by-products especially from the use of fertilizers.
Fortunately, nitrates are great contributors to the growth of plants, which is why they are found in fertilizer. They are bio-degradable and very soluble (dissolve) in water.
These compounds also play a key role in the balance of our ecosystem. However, excess exposure to nitrates is dangerous and can make us prone to illness.
Ammonia
Ammonia is an organic combination of nitrogen and hydrogen. It is a colorless, foul-smelling gas that is highly soluble in water.
It is a common nitrogen-based product that is an important food for plants and animals. It is also a component of fertilizers.
Although it is quite widespread in the environment, ammonia can also be very hazardous to our health.
How Nitrates and Ammonia Enter Our Water Supply
Nitrates and ammonia invade our water system mainly through the following ways:
Flood and Erosion
Nitrates are more common in areas with a lot of agricultural waste. It is not uncommon to find undesirably large amounts of nitrates in wells and city reserves on or near farmlands.
Floods and erosions can wash animal waste, crop debris, food processing wastes, and other agricultural by-products into wells and city water reserves.
When this happens, these agricultural by-products get broken down and nitrates and ammonia are produced.
These chemical substances can invade a city’s water reserve when they are washed into streams and dams.
It doesn’t even have to be a major flood event for this to happen. The first large storm of the season is enough to create this problem – these are known as ‘first flushes’. A first flush is the movement of dirt, waste and debris with the first heavy rain after a dry period.
Fertilizers
Fertilizers contain large amounts of nitrates and ammonia, along with other substances that plants need to grow and stay healthy.
The use of fertilizers coupled with the natural presence of nitrates in soils increases the chance of these chemicals running off into wells and water reserves.
Rainfall can cause surface runoff of fertilizers and natural soil nitrates, washing them into streams, rivers, and water reserves.
Animal Waste
Another common way nitrates and ammonia get into water reserves is directly from animal waste.
Animals such as birds and freshwater fish pass waste (feces and urine) into water bodies such as rivers or streams.
Aquatic plants can also die and decompose in water. These organic wastes degrade over time and release nitrates and ammonia into the water which may then mix in with well water or city reserves.
Cleaning Chemicals
Ammonia is a very common ingredient in household cleaning products. It is found in the majority of cleaning products including window cleaners, tile cleaners, etc.
Fortunately, the amount is generally quite low – the concentration of ammonia in detergents and soaps is usually less than 10%.
If not properly disposed of, household wastewater containing ammonium can easily mix into and contaminate surface water.
Ammonia can also easily enter our atmosphere from cleaning products. If you are interested in removing ammonia from the air in your home Plentifulair.com has a complete guide available here.
Why We Should Remove Nitrates and Ammonia From Our Water
Even though nitrates and ammonia both contain nitrogen, they can cause very different health problems.
Nitrates
Drinking water with excessive amounts of nitrates can cause a health condition called methemoglobinemia.
This condition decreases the amount of oxygen your blood carries to the rest of your body.The red cells in our blood contain an iron-based compound called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is responsible for transporting (or carrying) oxygen.
When our body takes in too much nitrates, our body converts this chemical into nitrites.
Nitrites react with normal hemoglobin to form methemoglobin, a substance that cannot transport oxygen.
This health effect is more likely to occur in younger children than adults because they have lower levels of the enzyme that converts methemoglobin to hemoglobin.
A prominent example of water contamination with nitrates occurred in 2022 when the Oregon Department of Human Services battled a case of nitrate contamination in wells in Morrow County.
Domestic or private wells were declared unsafe, and residents were strongly advised to test their well water for nitrates.
Households that depended on domestic wells were provided free water during the emergency once their well water tested positive for nitrates.
Ammonia (and Ammonium)
The human body has a very high capacity for ammonia excretion.
Every day, the body produces a lot of this chemical as a waste product during processes like food digestion by the intestine and the processing of protein components by the liver.
In total, the body produces about 4,000 mg of ammonia every day. However, the amount of ammonia we ingest through food, water, and other routes is just about 20 mg in total.
Water contaminated with ammonia may become toxic to human health if the amount of this chemical in the water is more than what the body can detoxify.
Acute ammonia exposure can corrode our mucous membranes, and can even lead to ammonia poisoning.
Thankfully, these concentrations are unlikely to be present in drinking water. This is because when ammonia enters water it often changes to ammonium. Ammonium just has one more hydrogen than ammonia – it gets this from the water (H2O).
How Reverse Osmosis Removes Nitrates and Ammonia
Reverse osmosis does not eliminate all traces of nitrates and ammonium, but rather significantly lowers the chemical levels in your water.
An RO system can remove about 89-92% of nitrates from water and 80% of ammonium.
Reverse osmosis removes nitrates, ammonium, and other water contaminants by pushing water under high pressure through a semi-permeable membrane with tiny pores.
These pores serve as a sieve, separating pure water from impurities.
The membrane allows the clean, treated water to pass through and often collects it in a holding tank. Leftover pollutants are washed out and sent down the drain.
However, the membrane cannot remove ammonia. Ammonia requires special catalytic oxidation processes to remove it from water – and these are not a part of regular household water purification systems.
But remember, most ammonia converts to ammonium once it enters the water, and reverse osmosis can definitely remove ammonium.
According to the EPA, a safe level of nitrates in water is about 10 mg/l.
When the entering nitrate concentration is very high, reverse osmosis may be less effective at making your water safe for drinking.
As the nitrate concentration approaches 100-150mg/dl, reverse osmosis alone may not sufficiently decontaminate it.
Although the nitrate level would be significantly reduced, your water may still contain up to 10mg/l of nitrates. So, it is unsafe for drinking.
This is why you need to do a thorough water test when selecting a suitable water purification system.
A whole-house reverse osmosis system might be a logical filtration method in the case of high nitrate and ammonia levels. Although, an under-sink reverse osmosis system will do the job just as well.
There is no other water purification method that can remove more nitrates or ammonia than reverse osmosis. So investing in a system is a good choice if you are looking to remove these nitrogen-based contaminants from your water.
NSF Certification For Removing Nitrates or Ammonia
The National Sanitation Foundation is an independent, third-party certification body that ensures products and services meet certain public health standards.
An NSF certification is a reliable sign that a product or service has undergone rigorous testing and complies with all standard requirements.
When you’re on the search for a reverse osmosis system that can get rid of nitrates, look out for one with an NSF 58 certification.
An RO system with an NSF/ANSI 58 can remove nitrates and other contaminants such as heavy metals, nitrites, fluoride, etc. But there is no NSF certification for ammonia.
It’s important to know though that NSF certification is voluntary. Not having certification doesn’t mean a system can’t remove a given contaminant – it just means the company hasn’t invested in certification. Having said that, you will find that most reputable brands will have obtained certification, probably because they believe in their products.
Best Reverse Osmosis Systems For Removing Nitrate and Ammonium
Here are the best reserve osmosis systems for getting rid of nitrates and ammonium from your water:
Crystal Quest Reverse Osmosis Systems
Crystal Quest reverse osmosis systems work very efficiently, passing water through several stages of filtration. Some Crystal Quest reverse osmosis systems have up to 17 stages of filtration, we recommend their 1000M Reverse Osmosis system to remove nitrates and ammonium.
Crystal Quest reverse osmosis systems remove other common water contaminants, including PFAS, chlorine and heavy metals.
They also have a specific nitrate filter that can be added to the system. Because the filter solely targets nitrates it has a great removal efficiency of at least 95%.
G3 Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System – Waterdrop G3
Waterdrop tankless reverse osmosis systems have NSF/ANSI 58 certification. They filters out 93% of the nitrates from your tap water.
This reserve osmosis system has a smart display faucet and a monitor which gives you information about the quality of filtered water.
In addition to removing nitrates and ammonium, this system removes several other contaminants including radium, calcium particles, chromium, etc.
Reverse Osmosis Systems that Can Remove Nitrate and Ammonia.
There are several types of reverse osmosis systems. All of the following types of reverse osmosis systems can remove nitrates and at least some ammonium. This is because they all use a semi-permeable membrane to clean the water (as well as several other filters).
As long as the reverse osmosis system you choose is one of the following (or a whole-house system) then nitrates and ammonium should be removed. The actual percentage removed will vary between the brands, but they should all reduce the concentration of these contaminants.
Under-Sink RO System
The vast majority of RO systems are under-sink filters. Once installed, all you have to do to operate them is turn on the faucet.
By following the manufacturer’s instructions, you can usually install an under-sink RO system yourself.
However, this may sometimes be a little challenging to do, so you may want to use an experienced plumber.
Countertop RO Systems
Countertop systems are free-standing systems that sit on a countertop, as their name suggests (or they can be placed on the ground). They work well in compact areas when there isn’t enough room for a larger under-sink system.
Most are so compact that you won’t have to sacrifice a lot of kitchen counter space or be concerned with a difficult installation procedure.
RO systems with UV Lamps
These reserve osmosis systems also use ultraviolet light to remove microorganisms from water. It is very suitable for use in the home as it does not take up any extra space.
UV lamps can remove up to 99% of germs present in your water.
Tankless RO Systems
Originally, all RO systems came with storage tanks where to store purified water.
These tanks are useful because RO is a slow process. So, purifying water on demand wasn’t much of an option.
While they are a great fix, the tanks have their drawbacks. For one, they make the RO system take up a lot of space. They also leave room for secondary contamination of the water when it is sitting in the storage tank.
Now, there are tankless RO systems that solve these problems while still providing all the amazing benefits of reverse osmosis technology.
