Help with tap water analysis
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- another_jim
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The water is safe. It is very hard (the calcium and magnesium levels) and quite brackish (the high sodium). But low in alkalinity. I'd guess the source is far down river, rather than an aquifer or well water (which would have higher alkalinity to go with the high hardness, and very little sodium) or high up on a watershed (less minerals, less hardness, less sodium)
Jim Schulman
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Hi Jim, thanks for the reply! I was under the impression that the water here is very soft, so I was surprised to see you say it is so hard. Just to double check is it possible you read mg instead of micrograms?
- another_jim
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I certainly did miss that, sorry; never seen calcium, magnesium and sodium stated in micrograms. Mountain region?
This is close to rain water, with less minerals than most RO water. You'll want to harden it for coffee. Fabulous for showers, laundry and cooking veggies. Could be an issue for corroding seals in copper pipes (my brother with water this soft had to replace copper with plastic pipes because of constant leaks the first ten years he owned his house). I see the alkalinity is raised by the treatment; maybe to help with that?
This is close to rain water, with less minerals than most RO water. You'll want to harden it for coffee. Fabulous for showers, laundry and cooking veggies. Could be an issue for corroding seals in copper pipes (my brother with water this soft had to replace copper with plastic pipes because of constant leaks the first ten years he owned his house). I see the alkalinity is raised by the treatment; maybe to help with that?
Jim Schulman
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Yeah, lots of mountains here. So, do you think it would be suitable for re-mineralizing with sodium bicarbonate and magnesium sulfate? Or would I be better off getting distilled and re-mineralizing that?
- another_jim
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There's no need for tap water -- they could bottle and sell this stuff. Given the alkalinity, you can cut the bicarbonate amount in the recipe by about 1/3 to 1/2 (if you're aiming for about 40mg/L).
Jim Schulman