- Q.In the April 2000 issue of
JLC (Letters), Rex Cauldwell recommended
treating acidic water that eats copper pipe. Our water
has a pH of 6.2 and definitely eats copper. What kind
of water treatment equipment do I need?
A.Master plumber Rex
Cauldwell responds: With a pH of 6.2, your
water looks at copper and says yum, yum. You need
an acid neutralizer, which passes the water through
a container with neutralizing media. Look for an
acid neutralizer with a capacity of at least 1
cubic foot of media. Acid neutralizers are
available from many plumbing supply houses or from
Sears. Plumbing supply houses can test your water
and help spec the unit for you.
Acid neutralizers are either passive or active.
A passive model, sometimes called an upflow, just
sits there as water flows through it. Debris, iron,
and other junk will collect in the media. In a
passive model, the media tend to turn into a
concrete-like mass after a while.
An active model backwashes itself to fluff up
the bed and to get rid of the debris, which is
flushed to a drain. The disadvantage of an active
unit is that the backwash cycle consumes a couple
of hundred gallons of water per week.
An acid neutralizer is installed in series with
the incoming main water line and will require a
120-volt power supply.