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From: masticol@topaz.rutgers.edu (Steve Masticola)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.consumers.house,sci.bio
Subject: Re: private well
Message-ID: <14232@topaz.rutgers.edu>
Date: Wed, 26-Aug-87 09:41:28 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.14232
Posted: Wed Aug 26 09:41:28 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Aug-87 04:06:28 EDT
References: <1295@lcuxlm.UUCP>
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 21
Keywords: pH level
Xref: mnetor misc.consumers:2573 misc.consumers.house:1205 sci.bio:615

In article <1295@lcuxlm.UUCP> lhh@lcuxlm.UUCP writes:

> Well water from a home I'm purchasing has a measured pH of 5.7
> (so its too acidic, 6.5 to 8.5 being the recommended range)
> 
> Does anyone know just HOW bad this is ? -  both to my health and my pipes.

I can't say specifically how bad pH 5.7 is - my guess is that it's OK
to drink unless there's something else wrong with it.

Acidic water can cause serious secondary problems, though. I lived
in an area where the water was pretty acid (though I didn't measure
it), in a house with copper pipes. The bathtub and sink were stained
blue with copper chloride leached from the pipes, and my neighbor told
me she had to get chelation therapy (not fun!) because of copper
poisioning. Of course, this didn't do the pipes any good, either.

If your pipes are PVC, you needn't worry about this, since they aren't
leached by weak acids.

- Steve