Is this well water alright to use?

[mrhelton]

Hi

I have bad well water (more than 140ppm nitrate)

My neighbor's well water is good (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, less than 5 nitrate) but the problem is, it smells like sulfur. What does that mean? I'm about out of ideas to do water changes with, and today is my water change day. Is the water ok to use with the smell as long as I use prime?

EDIT: I have left the water standing for the last 15 minutes or so and the sulfur smell is gone from what I can tell (my wife sniffed too). It turned a little yellow though. I assume that's just iron right? It won't hurt anything will it? I have live plants.

 

[eco23]

Unfortunately I really can't give you a definitive answer on the sulfur. I've researched it before and have found all sorts of differing views. Since you are using Prime, I would contact Seachem on their website. They're great with responding to questions and should be able to give you some good information.

As for your tap water...wow. 160 ppm of nitrAte?! I hope you guys aren't drinking it, or at the very least have a quality RO system to help. Just FYI, the EPA considers anything 10ppm and up over the maximum contaminant level (MCL). That's definitely something I'd contact your local health dept. about. We've had other members with similar issues, and their local county / city will normally come take a sample (free of charge) and provide you some info. It's definitely worth picking up the phone about.
http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/nitrate.cfm

 

[mrhelton]

Thanks for the concern over the water. I've had it tested and confirmed that way too, and I've spoken to my landlord about it as well.

Luckily we have a water dispenser (the ones that use those 5 gallon jugs) that we use for drinking and cooking.

I'll contact Seachem and see what they think. The sulfur smell is completely gone in all 10 gallon containers, and only the first one I filled up turned yellow. I think I'm probably alright.