Nitrate has no taste, color or smell, and boiling makes it worse. It comes from fertilizer, manure and septic systems and moves straight into shallow wells, and a softener won’t touch it. We remove it two ways: a whole-home nitrate filter on the same valve as your softener, or reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap. Already have a nitrate number from a well test? Call with it and we quote from it.
In short
The federal limit is 10 mg/L as nitrogen, set to protect infants under six months: bacteria in a baby’s stomach turn nitrate into nitrite, which stops hemoglobin from carrying oxygen. A national USGS survey found nitrate over the limit in 4.4% of domestic wells, and in nearly one in four shallow wells under intense farming. A strip test at your kitchen table shows whether it’s there; a lab sample sets the exact number.
Most people who call us about nitrate already have the number from a well test, often from a home sale. Here is what it means and what we do with it.
Owner-operated. The person who quotes the job installs it and answers the phone afterward. (269) 262-1399
Nitrate-selective exchange on the same valve as your softener. Every tap, under the limit
The 10 mg/L federal limit exists to protect infants under six months. The system is sized to bring every tap under it, so formula, cooking and the bathroom cup are all covered.
Same footprint, same valve, same salt. If you already have a softener, the two share deliveries and service visits; one trip covers both.
If drinking water is the only concern, an under-sink reverse osmosis system at the kitchen tap removes nitrate too. We'll tell you which one fits your house and your budget.
We size the resin bed to your nitrate and sulfate results and your household's water use, not a one-size-fits-all box, and confirm the treated water with a second test.
If the only concern is the water you drink and cook with, an under-sink reverse osmosis system at the kitchen tap takes nitrate out along with everything else dissolved; NSF/ANSI 58 carries a specific nitrate/nitrite reduction claim. The whole-home filter is for households that want every tap covered: formula, the bathroom cup, the fridge line, pets.
| Series | Charger Matrix |
| Control valve | Clack WS1, metered |
| Resin | Nitrate-selective strong-base anion, chloride form |
| Capacity | Sized to your nitrate and sulfate levels and your household |
| Brine tank | 15×17×48 in., holds 240 lbs of salt |
| Regenerant | Ordinary softener salt, metered |
| Plumbing | 3/4" or 1" connection |
| Warranty | 5 years valve • 10 years tank |
Installed in Portage, Kalamazoo, Vicksburg, Schoolcraft, Mattawan, Paw Paw and across Southwest Michigan.
Nitrate has no taste, color or odor, so you won’t know without a test. We screen for it with a nitrate test strip during the free in-home water test. It isn’t lab-precise, but it tells us whether nitrate is there and roughly how much. If the strip shows it, a certified lab sample (the Kalamazoo County Health Department tests private wells) sets the exact number we size the system to.
No. Softener resin captures positive ions; nitrate is a negative ion and passes straight through. Carbon and sediment filters don’t remove it either, and boiling concentrates it. The two methods that work are anion exchange and reverse osmosis, which is what the EPA lists as Best Available Technology.
Standard anion resin prefers sulfate over nitrate. If it runs past exhaustion, incoming sulfate pushes the stored nitrate back off the bed and the outlet can briefly carry more nitrate than the raw water. Nitrate-selective resin prefers nitrate, so the treated water can never exceed the raw water, even if a regeneration is missed.
If drinking and cooking water is the whole concern, reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap does the job for less. If you want every tap covered, especially with an infant in the house, the whole-home filter is the answer. Some families run both. We’ll tell you which fits your house and budget.
Yes. The same Clack WS1 valve and the same brine tank, regenerated with ordinary softener salt. If we deliver salt for your softener, the nitrate filter is covered on the same trip, and the two share service visits.
Call with the number from the lab report. We quote from it, install the system that fits the house, and retest the treated water afterward so there is a clean result on paper. Agents in the area send us these regularly; the section above covers what the number means.
5 years on the Clack WS1 valve and 10 years on the tank, the same as our softeners.
We test hardness, iron, pH and TDS at your house and tell you what, if anything, your water needs.
Schedule a free water testOr call (269) 262-1399
