• The USDA requires a water test before approving a USDA home loan.home sweeet home image by .shock from Fotolia.com
  
  The United States Department of Agriculture provides home mortgages to people who want to buy a home in a rural area. The USDA does not actually hold the mortgage, but it does help home buyers obtain loans with easier qualifications than other loans. The USDA requires purchasers to have their water tested to prove that it meets standards prior to approving the mortgage.
  
  

Arsenic

• The USDA requires that the level of arsenic in the water be less than 0.01 milligram per liter. There is no way to treat water for arsenic, so the well should not be used if it measures in excess of this amount.
  
  

Lead

• The lead level in the water must be below 0.015 milligrams per liter to be acceptable. If lead is present, the water can be treated with reverse osmosis or activated alumina. Both processes will remove excess lead.
  
  

Nitrates

• Testing laboratories can present the findings for nitrates in two ways, expressed as nitrate or as nitrogen. For tests that express nitrates as nitrate, the level must be one milligram per liter. For nitrates expressed as nitrogen, the level must be below 10 milligrams per liter. Excess nitrates can be treated with an ion exchange or reverse osmosis.
  
  

Fluoride

• The USDA requires the fluoride level to be below four milligrams per liter. There is no treatment option for excess fluoride.
  
  

Coliforms

• Coliforms constitute a class of bacteria that are found everywhere in our environment, including feces. Water that has high levels of them may cause diseases. The USDA requires that the total coliform level is less than 10 for every 100 milliliters of water. Fecal coliforms must not be present at all. Water that is contaminated by coliforms may be treated with disinfection or reverse osmosis.