Private water supply owners with excessive nitrate or nitrite should contact their local health department or family physician for assistance. The technology for removal of nitrate from drinking water does exist. Reverse Osmosis, ion exchange and distillation are three possible methods. This equipment requires frequent, careful maintenance and sampling to achieve and confirm effective operation. Improperly installed, operated, or maintained, equipment can result in nitrate passing through the treatment process and in some cases concentrating the nitrate above the incoming levels.
Bacteriological problems can also develop in improperly installed and poorly maintained systems.
Therefore, it is the position of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality that an alternate source of drinking water the meets the nitrate standard be developed where possible. The local health department should be consulted for information on deepening wells or changing aquifers to reduce nitrate levels. Public water systems must obtain health department approval prior to installing this type of treatment equipment. Boiling water will not remove nitrate and may concentrate it. All community and noncommunity public water supplies using groundwater are required by law to sample at least once every year for nitrate and once every three years for nitrite.