Possible for bottled water to have ammonia?

[Lyssa]

Let me just give a bit of a back story.

A little less than a year ago I got my first axolotl. I had used my tap water for the first few months, and had no issues. Then one day my axolotl got sick, and I realized it was ammonia. (Don't post about cycling please, I am aware of how to do it). I went out and bought a water test kit (So obviously I had never tested my tap up until that point, so I can't be sure what it was before). I did almost a 100% water change, and tested the water and it came out to a very dark green also. Is it possible for my tap to have a false read some how? Like I said he was fine the first few months on tap, maybe I mistook the sickness for something it wasn't. Cause if I did, I would love to start using tap again.

Anyways, moving on to the bottled water question. So ever since that ammonia scare, I have always used bottled water from my grocery store. It always tested fine. But today, I was coming from school and decided to stop at the gas station and pick up a jug of water since it was so close. I tested it, and it came back pretty dark green. The water from my grocery store was fine. I was under the impression that bottled water could not have ammonia, what happened?

 

[Boomsloth]

Most likely you have a bad test kit or are doing the test wrong. Bottled water shouldn't have any ammonia


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[Lyssa]

Yeah... I don't really see how it could have any.. I suppose I should head out to the store and get a new test kit thanks!

 

[allied123]

On a similar note does anyone know if it's possible for tap water to have nitrite? I had a spike but then tested my tap and it appeared to have some nitrite (not dangerous levels but certainly a noticeable amount) I am colorblind but my boyfriend agreed that it looked like it read for some nitrites (I can't remember exactly how much now sorry) and sorry to jack this post but it was such a similar topic I didn't want to start a new one

 

[auntiejude]

It is very possible for tapwater and well water to have some ammonia, nitrite or nitrate in it, especially in areas where farming is big industry. They are used as fertilisers, and the runoff into rivers, lakes, reservoirs and the watercourse can lead to higher concentrations of these chemicals in drinking water.

But (most) bottled water is subject to stricter controls, so less likely to have anything nasty. If bottled water is reading high nitrates I would also say the test kid is reading funny.