[misc.consumers] private well

lhh@lcuxlm.UUCP (08/25/87)

Well water from a home I'm purchasing has a measured pH of 5.7
(so its too acidic, 6.5 to 8.5 being the recommended range)

Does anyone know just HOW bad this is ? -  both to my health and my pipes.
I've been told by the lab (and water conditioning companies) that this
level is way to low and must be corrected. The mortgage company
also wants it corrected.

I'd appreciate any input. Thanks in advance.

	len horn
	lcuxlm!lhh

Also:
This is not a new home. Do you think the seller, or the purchaser, should
bear the cost of correcting the problem ?

masticol@topaz.rutgers.edu (Steve Masticola) (08/26/87)

In article <1295@lcuxlm.UUCP> lhh@lcuxlm.UUCP writes:

> Well water from a home I'm purchasing has a measured pH of 5.7
> (so its too acidic, 6.5 to 8.5 being the recommended range)
> 
> Does anyone know just HOW bad this is ? -  both to my health and my pipes.

I can't say specifically how bad pH 5.7 is - my guess is that it's OK
to drink unless there's something else wrong with it.

Acidic water can cause serious secondary problems, though. I lived
in an area where the water was pretty acid (though I didn't measure
it), in a house with copper pipes. The bathtub and sink were stained
blue with copper chloride leached from the pipes, and my neighbor told
me she had to get chelation therapy (not fun!) because of copper
poisioning. Of course, this didn't do the pipes any good, either.

If your pipes are PVC, you needn't worry about this, since they aren't
leached by weak acids.

- Steve

piety@hplabsb.UUCP (Bob Piety) (09/08/87)

If the water is neuralized with sodium bicarbonate/carbonate/hydroxide,
there won't be any significant leaching of copper, which is quite non-
toxic in these amounts, anyway-- I've researched it.

Bob