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General Description

Nitrate levels in many waters are often high. Over 60% of nitrate enters water from agricultural land. High concentrations of nitrate in water can cause methaemoglobinaemia in very young children (blue baby syndrome). The nitrate is converted to nitrite in the body which in turn interferes with oxygen up take in the blood. The current regulatory standard of 50 mg/l nitrate is derived from the standard in the European Union's Drinking Water Directive which is intended to ensure that drinking water will not cause methaemoglobinaemia. The most common method of removing nitrate is with an ion exchange resin. The nitrate rich water passes over a resin where the nitrate is exchanged for chloride ions. When no more nitrate can be exchanged the resin needs to be replaced or regenerated by rinsing with salt.