High readings of NH3, N02 and N03 in ageing barrel

[fattubwhale]

Hello SD friends,

I have a 55g ageing water barrel that has been in use for the last few month. I have it set up with a airstone, powerhead and a heater... The water is aged for appx. 24 hrs prior to use. after each use i just fill it back up straight from the tap! Prior to filling the tanks up i use prime.

so this is my problem...

"Using API test kits"

Straight from tap
PH 8.6
Ammonia .10 - .20 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm

Ageing barrel readings:
PH 7.6-7.8
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm

from the tank
PH 7.8
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite between .10 - .20 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm

Whats causing the ageing barrel to spike???

[flyman767]

Are you following the exact same protocol before and after? What is your barrel made out of? Is there any residual of anything left inside? The only parameter that should change after aging is the PH.

..Ray

[fattubwhale]

Everything is done by the books every time! It is a plastic food grade barrel... the barrel has been cleaned and emptied several times!!! That's why I am baffled by the water parameters...

[flyman767]

How old is your test kit? I have seen skewed numbers due to old test kits. Consider buying another name brand test kit?

Are you on city or well water? If your on city water, I would call and talk to one of their engineer's and explain your situation. Maybe the municipality is doing some type of 'line flushing' that could be throwing your numbers off. Having said that, I can't think off anything that would cause an increase in nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia...simply due to aging water.

If your on well water, I would look into having it tested.

..Ray

[Skip]

tap water has ammonia in it.. if you use prime.. it detox the ammonia.. but it still shows up on the test... your bio filter in your tank is getting rid of it..

[fattubwhale]

How old is your test kit? I have seen skewed numbers due to old test kits. Consider buying another name brand test kit?

Are you on city or well water? If your on city water, I would call and talk to one of their engineer's and explain your situation. Maybe the municipality is doing some type of 'line flushing' that could be throwing your numbers off. Having said that, I can't think off anything that would cause an increase in nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia...simply due to aging water.

If your on well water, I would look into having it tested.

..Ray

the test kit is relativley new and I am on City water! I guess the next step is to contact my municipality to see if there were any system flushes that may have affected the water parameters. Also, I'm going to empty that sucker out and bleach it out again!!!

[flyman767]

tap water has ammonia in it.. if you use prime.. it detox the ammonia.. but it still shows up on the test... your bio filter in your tank is getting rid of it..

Tap water only has ammonia if your municipality uses Chloramine. Even so(assuming Chloramine is used) that still won't explain the op's increase of ammonia after aging.

[Skip]

are you aerating the storage water..

[flyman767]

the test kit is relativley new and I am on City water! I guess the next step is to contact my municipality to see if there were any system flushes that may have affected the water parameters. Also, I'm going to empty that sucker out and bleach it out again!!!

You may also want to consider sampling another storage container. This doesn't have to be very large but just something that is clean where you can store your tap and take another reading after 24 hours of aeration. At least this way..you can eliminate a contaminated barrel.

..Ray

[jimg]

If the tank is not cleaned and you have ammonia in your tap there is a good chance that the barrel has it's own bio cycle going on. but you said it's clean so that's all i can think of!

[fattubwhale]

are you aerating the storage water..

Yes it is! I actually have a air stone and a powerhead moving the water


You may also want to consider sampling another storage container. This doesn't have to be very large but just something that is clean where you can store your tap and take another reading after 24 hours of aeration. At least this way..you can eliminate a contaminated barrel.

..Ray

I will try that out!


If the tank is not cleaned and you have ammonia in your tap there is a good chance that the barrel has it's own bio cycle going on. but you said it's clean so that's all i can think of!

That is what i was thinking it's going through a mini cycle!

[Jhhnn]

It seems likely that your water supplier is using chloramines, which means that you want a Seachem ammonia test kit. It's the only one that can tell the difference between ammonia and ammonium. Prime converts ammonia to ammonium.

It also seems likely that your water contains a fair % of dissolved organics, which break down to ammonia, converted to ammonium by prime, then to nitrite & nitrate by bacterial action. Our test kits don't measure dissolved organics.

It seems likely that your barrel has its own bacterial community- mine definitely do. That's not a bad thing, at all, unless the nitrite to nitrate conversion is lagging. That can be helped along using more air & a sponge filter in the barrel rather than just an airstone, and incoming dissolved organics can be reduced with a carbon filter.

I'm lucky to live in Denver where tap water is very low in dissolved organics because it's collected at high altitude from snow melt... I still get gook in the barrels due to bacterial action.

[fattubwhale]

It seems likely that your water supplier is using chloramines, which means that you want a Seachem ammonia test kit. It's the only one that can tell the difference between ammonia and ammonium. Prime converts ammonia to ammonium.

It also seems likely that your water contains a fair % of dissolved organics, which break down to ammonia, converted to ammonium by prime, then to nitrite & nitrate by bacterial action. Our test kits don't measure dissolved organics.

It seems likely that your barrel has its own bacterial community- mine definitely do. That's not a bad thing, at all, unless the nitrite to nitrate conversion is lagging. That can be helped along using more air & a sponge filter in the barrel rather than just an airstone, and incoming dissolved organics can be reduced with a carbon filter.

I'm lucky to live in Denver where tap water is very low in dissolved organics because it's collected at high altitude from snow melt... I still get gook in the barrels due to bacterial action.

Interesting!!! Well, I guess it doesn't hurt to try another test kit either! But in the mean time I will give this barrel another full cleaning and also add a box filter for some added filtration.
I found some interesting articles in the waterworks forum regarding pre filters... I think I'm gonna purchase a couple of canister with some carbon/micron filters and just run straight out of tap and see how that work!

Thanks for all the info and help!