Prism9208
New Member
I have city water and my wife wanted a water softener installed to reduce hardwater stains on our plumbing fixtures. After confirming we had around 9-10 grains/gal, I installed a water softener. However, it is currently bypassed as I realized I needed to be more careful with respect to corrosion of my copper pipes with potentially more aggressive, softened water.
Test results from the lab (water softener bypassed):
pH = 7.0
Total Alkalinity = 110 mg CaCO3/L
Hardness = 157 mg CaCO3/L
Specific Conductance @ 25 °C = 731 umhos/cm
At-home tests (water softener bypassed):
pH = 7.5 to 7.75 from calibrated pH meter with ±0.1 uncertainty, measured at 20 °C
Hardness = 10 grains/gal from Hach 5-B
When I play around with some Langelier Saturation or Ryznar index calculators, I see my tap water is balanced with respective to corrosive or scaling risks. How can I deploy a water softener without going too aggressive within copper lines? For example, if I simply reduce my hardness to 4 grains/gal (guess value) in these calculators while holding all else equal, I fall to a -0.4 LSI and become slightly corrosive.
Is this a scenario where if I want to remove the hardness I need to boost the pH/alkalinity to stay balanced?
Full water test results:
Test results from the lab (water softener bypassed):
pH = 7.0
Total Alkalinity = 110 mg CaCO3/L
Hardness = 157 mg CaCO3/L
Specific Conductance @ 25 °C = 731 umhos/cm
At-home tests (water softener bypassed):
pH = 7.5 to 7.75 from calibrated pH meter with ±0.1 uncertainty, measured at 20 °C
Hardness = 10 grains/gal from Hach 5-B
When I play around with some Langelier Saturation or Ryznar index calculators, I see my tap water is balanced with respective to corrosive or scaling risks. How can I deploy a water softener without going too aggressive within copper lines? For example, if I simply reduce my hardness to 4 grains/gal (guess value) in these calculators while holding all else equal, I fall to a -0.4 LSI and become slightly corrosive.
Is this a scenario where if I want to remove the hardness I need to boost the pH/alkalinity to stay balanced?
Full water test results:
Turbidity = 0.40 NTU
Calcium = 48.6 mg/L
Copper = 0.044 mg/L
Iron = 0.010 mg/L
Magnesium = 8.7 mg/L
Manganese < 0.004 mg/L
Potassium = 3.9 mg/L
Sodium = 68.8 mg/L
Arsenic < 0.001 mg/L
Lead < 0.001 mg/L
Chloride = 129 mg/L
Fluoride = 0.2 mg/L
Nitrate as N = 1.19 mg/L
Nitrite as N < 0.02 mg/L
Sulfate = 22.9 mg/L
Sediment: Absent
Color, apparent = 0 CU
Odor = 3 T.O.N.
Total Alkalinity = 110 mg CaCO3/L
Hardness (calc.) = 157 mg CaCO3/L
Specific conductance @ 25 °C = 731 umhos/cm
Residual Free Chlorine = 0.59 mg/L
pH at 25 °C = 7.0
Ammonia as N < 0.1 mg/L
Coliform Bacteria: Absent
E. coli Bacteria: Absent