Inorganic
1040Nitrate
The health basis on which the EPA sets this contaminant's legal limit. Reported verbatim from the regulatory record — it is not a diagnosis or a prediction about any individual.
Causes methemoglobinemia ("blue-baby syndrome") in infants under 6 months. Carbon filters do NOT remove nitrate — reverse osmosis (NSF 58) only.
- Maximum contaminant level
- 10 mg/LLegal MCLEnforceable federal limit
- Health goal
- 10 mg/LHealth goal (MCLG)No known health risk
- Category
- InorganicCategory
- Reporting unit
- mg/LReporting unit
Nitrate/nitrite cannot be removed by standard carbon-based pitcher, faucet, or under-sink filters (NSF/ANSI 42 or 53). Only reverse-osmosis systems certified to NSF/ANSI 58 (or specific ion-exchange systems) are effective. Standard carbon filters will NOT protect against this contaminant.
Regulatory basis
How Nitrate is regulated
What the enforceable limit actually obliges a utility to do, and how it differs from the health-based goal it is measured against.
For Nitrate the enforceable limit and the health goal are the same number, 10 mg/L. EPA set the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) at the health goal (MCLG), so there is no feasibility gap here: meeting the legal limit also means meeting the health-based goal. A value above 10 mg/L is both an exceedance of the goal and a violation of the enforceable standard.
Results are reported in mg/L. A laboratory result and the limits above are only comparable when both are expressed in that same unit — a value in a different unit will be off by orders of magnitude. WaterQualityLens groups Nitrate under Inorganic for navigation; the grouping is ours, the limits are the regulator’s.
The record for Nitrate
- Enforceable limit (MCL)
- 10 mg/L
- Health goal (MCLG)
- 10 mg/L
- Reporting unit
- mg/L
- Category
- Inorganic
- Contaminant code
- 1040
Limits as published by EPA and state primacy agencies. This page reports regulatory and certification records; it does not assess anyone’s exposure and makes no health prediction.
Certification scope
Which certifications actually remove Nitrate
Only NSF/ANSI 53, 58 and 401 are health-contaminant standards. A product certified only to Standard 42 (aesthetics) or 372 (lead-free materials) has not been verified to reduce Nitrate, however the box is worded.
NSF/ANSI 53
Counts — health standardHealth effects: lead, VOCs, cysts, chromium, and (post-P473) PFAS reduction.
No filter in our registry holds a verified NSF/ANSI 53 claim for Nitrate, and Standard 53 covers carbon-based reduction, which does not remove Nitrate. Reverse osmosis certified to NSF/ANSI 58 is the treatment that applies here.
NSF/ANSI 58
Counts — health standardReverse osmosis: dissolved inorganics, arsenic, hexavalent chromium, and total PFAS.
3 filters in our registry hold an independently verified NSF/ANSI 58 claim for Nitrate, listed below.
NSF/ANSI 401
Counts — health standardEmerging/incidental compounds: pharmaceuticals and select trace contaminants.
No filter in our registry holds a verified NSF/ANSI 401 claim for Nitrate. That means we hold no certification record — not that the standard could never cover it.
NSF/ANSI 42
Does not count — not a health standardAesthetic effects: chlorine, taste, odor, particulates. No health-contaminant protection.
No registry product lists Nitrate under NSF/ANSI 42. It would not count as verification of Nitrate reduction in any case.
NSF/ANSI 372
Does not count — not a health standardLead-free materials (manufacturing content only). Not a water-treatment claim.
No registry product lists Nitrate under NSF/ANSI 372. It would not count as verification of Nitrate reduction in any case.
Counts are of active products in the WaterQualityLens filter registry holding a verified claim for contaminant code 1040 under that standard, as recorded by the certifying body (NSF, WQA, or IAPMO). Certification is granted per contaminant, not per product: a filter certified to Standard 53 for one contaminant is not thereby certified for Nitrate.
Entity graph
Systems reporting Nitrate
Water systems in our coverage whose most recent published sample set includes Nitrate. Each value carries its sample date and the agency that reported it.
Certified reduction · commercial placements
Filters verified to reduce Nitrate
These filters hold an independent NSF/ANSI health certification (Standard 53, 58, or 401) specifically for Nitrate. Certification against a health standard means an accredited lab verified the filter reduces this contaminant — a materials-only claim such as NSF 42 or 372 does not.
- Verified PartnerFrizzlife
M800 Under-Sink Reverse Osmosis
FZ-M800Under-sink RO$399NSF/ANSI 58Certified by NSF
- Verified PartnerAquaTru
Classic Countertop RO
AT-CLASSICCountertop RO$449NSF/ANSI 58Certified by NSF
- Verified PartnerWaterdrop
G3P800 Under-Sink RO
WD-G3P800Under-sink RO$549NSF/ANSI 58Certified by NSF
Hardware links are affiliate placements marked “Verified Partner.” Products appear here solely because they hold an independently verified NSF/ANSI health certification for Nitrate; commercial arrangements never affect this list.