If you have brown water due to acidic pH levels of water use soda ash feeder to neutralize the pH effectively
Corrosive well water is often a cause of concern. Not only does it stain laundry and bathroom fixtures it also causes severe damage to plumbing around the household. Iron and manganese is often the cause. When you find brown water, make sure to find out what contaminants are present. Often the pH levels are acidic which causes corrosion of pipes. In such cases using a soda ash feeder to treat water proves to be useful in alleviating the problem.
Acidity of water is expressed as a range on pH scale. The pH of water should be 7 which is considered to be neutral and harmless. When the range is less than 7, water is acidic and more than 7 is alkaline. The alkalinity, total dissolved solids, temperatures and other factors can be measured to find the root cause of corrosion or other problems that you may be facing. If water is acidic it is commonly low in calcium hardness as well as dissolved solids. To neutralize the pH of water you can add soda ash. Soda ash is non toxic and helps bring the pH to 7.0 to 7.5 without affecting hardness of water.
One reason for acidic water is due to the dissolved carbon dioxide in rain water. It causes carbonic acid to form and reaches your well water as it soaks in the ground. It may also come from mining or even the naturally occurring mineral acids. Usually iron and manganese are present in well water. When you raise the pH it often oxidizes and becomes visible in water. Adding soda ash helps treat water. Preferably a backwashing iron filter should be used before you inject soda ash to water.
Usually when you inject soda ash solution it is added to water when the well pump is started. It is called as a metering pump. You can easily inject small amounts of soda ash to water. It gives you good results even if you simply keep it in contact with water. It is thoroughly mixed in water by using a contact tank. Generally for home use you can use the existing piping system. It is sufficient to allow mixing to take place as pH adjustment is normally immediate. One thing to keep in mind is that if the acidic water is due to the mineral acids the pH may be less than 4.0. You may not find soda ash effective to neutralize it, as soda as is effective mostly for pH between 4 and 6.8. You may instead use sodium hydroxide and inject it using the same pump as for soda ash.
Alternately, using calcite neutralizer filters is beneficial in places where there is a presence of sediments and iron in water. The filters in a way act as self cleaning filters. They also raise the hardness of water to some extent.
Soda ash feeders are preferable when pH levels are less than 5 or 5.5. If the brown water from the well that you are getting troubles you, get the water tested to find the pH levels and hardness. Soda ash feeders are useful in neutralizing the pH and making it safer for use.