How to raise PH more

[Banjo Bud]

I have an acid neutralizer tank in line before my water softener. The PH tank is the first thing my well water goes through. For years I have had trouble getting my PH to 7.0, neutral. My PH tank is 12" in diameter and about 36" tall. I guess this calculates to about 2 cubic feet. Right now it is half full of calcite. My PH from the well is about 6.0. After going through the PH tank it is around 6.6-6.7. I have read about mag oxide. Can I , and should I put mag oxide on top of the calcite? Or should I just put more calcite in? Or is there another product to use? Or should I take everything out of the tank and mix the mag oxide with calcite and put that in? My tank has been almost full of calcite before and still the PH is only 6.7-6.8. Is there a brand of calcite that is head and shoulders above the rest that I should try? Any help on this is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Reach4]

After going through the PH tank it is around 6.6-6.7. I have read about mag oxide. Can I , and should I put mag oxide on top of the calcite?

Use "corosex" in your searches. That will find more relevant hits.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bannerman]

My PH tank is 12" in diameter and about 36" tall. I guess this calculates to about 2 cubic feet.

A 12" X 52" tank is appropriate for 2 ft3 of media. Since a 10" X 35" tank is often utilized for 1 ft3, your 12" X 36" tank will likely contain at most 1.5 ft3.

The tank should not be filled to the top as approx 1/3 of the tank height should remain empty to allow sufficient space for the media to expand and circulate during the backwash cycle.

 

[Gsmith22]

when pH can't be raised by calcite or corosex, your next option is soda ash injection system - search for it. Right now, your system is adding hardness to the water via the calcite (to not quite neutralize it) and then promptly removing the hardness via the softener which in my mind doesn't make a lot of sense. You didn't post the incoming water hardness but my guess is there is some hardness in that water so your softener must be oversized to deal with natural hardness+what you add via the calcite. I think you will find it more efficient to have a smaller softener (or none at all) to deal with native hardness and then inject soda ash to deal with the pH. This switches the order of the processes. If you keep calcite or corosex, softener has to follow them (because you add hardness via that process). It is my understanding most processes (such as softening) occur better at lower pH so there is an advantage to having the softener first (for natural hardness) followed by soda ash injection (for pH raise). Hopefully experts here will confirm.

 

[ditttohead]

In general if you have a level of hardness that you want to soften, then a calcite or calcite/corosex system makes sense. If you have a level of hardness that does not require a softener than soda ash injection is a good solution.

12x36 is technically rated for very close to 1.25 ft3.

Do you need to raise the pH any higher? Just because water is below 7 does not necessarily mean it needs to be raised higher. Is your pH causing any problems? Classic symptoms would be a raise in copper or lead in your water due to copper plumbing or older fixtures. What we are more interested in is your water corrosivity index (CI) or LSI.

 

[Banjo Bud]

My water is 7.0 grains of hardness from the well. The PH being at 6.7 or so after running through the PH tank does not seem to be causing any problems like blue stains (copper corrosion). I’m just thinking that it might and so I’m trying to get it to 7. If 6.7 isn’t a problem, then heck with it. I’ll leave everything as is.

 

[Gsmith22]

i believe corosex is supposed to raise the pH more than calcite so if you don't want to change anything, that would be an "upgrade" in your neutralizer over the calcite and get you closer to 7. all that being said, I have read pH between 7.2 and 7.8 is the sweet spot that you aim for. You won't get anything more than 7 with calcite because it is self limiting and once the pH of the water is neutral, it won't dissolve the calcite anymore. Not sure if corosex operates the same way. soda ash is how you dial the pH into whatever you desire

all that being said, copper corrosion is only partially tied to pH. There are various corrosion indexes that are better predictors of plumbing corrosion. I'm aware of Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) but there are others too. pH is a factor in that calculation but it isn't the only factor.

Edit: sorry missed Dittohead's post where he also mentions LSI as a better predictor of corrosion than just pH alone

 

[Reach4]

The EPA SMCL for drinking water is 6.5 to 8.5. https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/secondary-drinking-water-standards-guidance-nuisance-chemicals

Yes, that is overly-simplified vs using a corrosivity index, but you are in the good range.

 

[Banjo Bud]

Maybe what I’ll do then is wait for this calcite to dissolve and then ad corosex the next time. Maybe 4-5 months from now.

 

[Gsmith22]

you don't want all corosex, it dissolves much easier and can really raise pH. I generally have seen anywhere from 100% calcite to 90 calcite/10 corosex to at most 80 calcite/20 corosex

 

[Banjo Bud]

Ok. I appreciate that tip.