1

I have couple of questions to the experts. I see copper stains (green/blue) in my sinks and at shower tubs. I had comprehensive water analysis done. Water was sampled from tap after flushing. My water is soft with pH 6.65. I am on well water. Below are the levels of some elements:

  • Hardness (calc.)->50.5 mg.CalCO3/L
  • Calcium-> 16.0 mg/L
  • Magnesium-> 2.56 mg/L
  • Sodium-> 10.0 mg/mL
  • Copper-> 0.221 mg/L
  • pH 6.65

Assuming that stain is coming from copper pipes, I called a company which installs filters.

The company told me that amount of stain is too much for the level of pH. I am not sure what to make of it. Could there be any other reason besides low pH to corrode my copper pipes. My house is 27 years old. I only had it for 3 years. And this house never had filtration system before.

The company proposed that I install neutralizer to bring pH to 7.0. This part makes sense to me and requires installation of a tank (tank #1). However, they want to install a water softener to remove neutralizer (Calcite) from water to make it soft again (tank #2). To regenerate softener matrix, they need a third tank (tank #3) for backwashing that uses salt for regeneration. Their calculation is that I (two people) would use ~500 pounds of salt per year for regeneration process. I personally think that it is a waste, and not an environmentally friendly method.

Moreover, my google search tells me that there many companies suggesting that if my water pH is above 6.0, I should only need neutralizer, not additional softerner/baskwashing tanks.

I am wondering if anyone has comments on this. Thank you very much.

Improve this question
1
  • pH and hardness of your water may change over the course of a year. Mine certainly does. Perhaps yours gets down low enough to liberate some copper.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Feb 17, 2018 at 19:44

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

This may not be much help or have anything to do with your installation, but I was told this by a large water heater tank company 30+ years ago. "Very Soft water heated close to and above 140 degrees F. becomes very aggressive and has very detrimental effects on metals it comes in contact with". I do not know if this is true or not, that is what I was told. The next time you speak with someone in the water field, you could ask their opinion and could this be a part of your problem. Also, water with a PH below 7.0 becomes corrosive. I am not a water expert, this just what I have been told.

Improve this answer
1

According to this link, you should need a water softener if the water hardness is greater than 170 mg/l before adding the neutralizer. Your test shows a much lower value - 50 mg/l. If it was me, I’d put in the neutralizer, and leave room for the softener just in case - it can always be added later.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.