Acid Neutralizers

There is a lot of acidic water in our area, primarily along the North and South Mountains of the Cumberland Valley. Typically caused by decaying leaves and other organic matter, water with a low pH wreaks havoc on plumbing systems and fixtures.  Commonly seen as a blueish-green stain, typically accompanied by a bitter or metallic taste in the water, low pH water eats holes in copper pipe and brass plumbing fixtures and keeps soap from making nice long lasting bubbles.

We treat acidic water in one of two ways, either by a filter containing crushed limestone, where the acid dissolves the calcium carbonate in the limestone and the pH is raised, along with adding a few grains of hardness to the water or by adding soda ash (sodium carbonate) solution via a feed pump.  The use of soda ash is particularly advantageous in waters where the alkalinity is high but the pH is low or in situations where the water is naturally soft; since the soda ash does not add hardness to the water, a water softener is not required to maintain the softness of the water.