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Water Acidity Vs Local Scheme 'Treatment' ....?

  • 24-04-2017 5:17am
    #1
    Stigura
    Registered Users Posts: 3,408 ✭✭✭


    :o Okay. Sorry. I barely know what I'm talking about. Just trying to narrow it down here.

    I live in a pretty well upland patch. Boggy and, I take it, acidic.

    My tapped water comes from (Local Scheme) somewhere uphill. Chlorine gets slung in it, now and then. Never really concerned myself with it.

    Just wondering: Might the (treated) water from my tap be rendered less acidic, by the 'regular' addition of what ever chlorine, at source?

    Thanks ~ for any direction :)


Comments

  • #2
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,657 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Short answer, Chlorine is acidic.

    It's the acid in your stomach. But of course the water would be nowhere near as acidic as your stomach or lemonade or citrus fruit.


  • #3
    Stigura
    Registered Users Posts: 3,408 ✭✭✭Stigura


    :eek: Damn! That's the last thing I expected!

    Thanks for the input, anyway. Looks like I'll have to invest in a ph test kit and start buggering about.


  • #4
    Fluffybums
    Registered Users Posts: 362 ✭✭Fluffybums


    Generally the chlorinating agent used in water treatment is sodium hypochlorite (bleach) which has a pH of about 11.

    http://www.lenntech.com/processes/disinfection/chemical/disinfectants-sodium-hypochlorite.htm

    At the concentrations used to treat drinking water it should have minimal effect on the pH of the water.

    The EPA has a document which explains the disinfection far better than I can.

    https://www.epa.ie/pubs/advice/drinkingwater/Disinfection2_web.pdf

    Just because the area around you is boggy, don't assume that your water is acidic as the aquifer may be influences by another area. Where I live in Kilkenny most people have hard-as-nails water, whereas my local scheme is moderately soft and slightly acidic. If you contact whoever is responsible for your group water scheme they may be able to provide some test results.


  • #5
    Stigura
    Registered Users Posts: 3,408 ✭✭✭Stigura


    Fluffybums wrote: »
    If you contact whoever is responsible for your group water scheme they may be able to provide some test results.

    Damn! Why didn't I think of that?! That's be my mate, Noel. Lives up the road. I'll wander up there some time and have a chat with him.


  • #6
    divillybit
    Registered Users Posts: 504 ✭✭✭divillybit


    Group water schemes would need to get their water independantly tested every month, but some group water schemes are better managed than others. If the the water treatment is very basic and the plant is fed by a surface water source like a lake, then there could be by products of the chlorination process being formed called THM's which are a no no. These are only formed if theres organics present in the filtered water which react with the chlorine. Just something else to be mindful of


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  • #7
    Samaris
    Registered Users Posts: 6,544 ✭✭✭Samaris


    If you can't get help from your friend, you can always get a basic suite of tests done on some of your tapwater with an environmental lab. If you're concerned about the effects of the acidity, could go for something like total/biological carbon content, pH, maybe metals testing. These days, potential trihalomethane formation is also worth looking at as divillybit said (it is relevant to chlorine use in drinking water in boglands). Potential labs are ALS, FitzScientific, Hensey, Dublin City Analysts. Not sure about Public Analysts in Galway, can't recall if they just do county council stuff. Can't say which can do all the tests, maybe any of them. Or just pH testing, depending on what your concerns are or if there's a particular issue you're noticing with the water.

    They might be able to give you some pointers as to who you need to contact if you do need the pH of the water raised. 6-8 is the European rules/guidelines


    *May not be necessary.


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