Acidity in Water
The pH scale is used to express the intensity of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. As commonly used, this scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7.0 is neutral, indicating a balance between acidity and alkalinity. Values ranging below 7.0 indicate increasing acid strength. Values ranging above 7.0 indicate increasing alkaline strength.
Waters with pH below 7.0 (acid waters) tend to cause iron or copper pick-up in piping systems and contribute to staining problems. Blue to green staining will result if the piping is copper, or red staining if the piping is iron. The lower the pH, the greater the corrosive tendency of the water. Waters with pH less than 6.8 contain sufficient acidity to cause significant corrosion and should always be treated.
Excess acidity in water is treated by neutralizing the acidity through the addition of alkaline materials. This is most often accomplished by installing a neutralizing filter, which contains a mineral that reacts with acidity to raise the pH of the water. This process slowly dissolves the mineral and adds a few grains of hardness to the water. Because of the increased hardness, installation of a water softener following the acid neutralizer filter is recommended.
In some cases, for use with an electrically operated well or water pump, a chemical solution pump can be used to feed a solution of acid neutralizer into the water system. |
