Here at North Carolina Water Consultants, we offer a number of different water treatment products that are designed to take care of different types of problems with your home’s tap water. There is no one system that will take care of every possible problem with your water, so the type of system you install depends on your home’s particular quality problems. One type of water treatment system that’s designed for a very specific purpose is an acid neutralizer. Today we’re going to talk about what an acid neutralizer does and how it can protect your home from acidic water!
The problem: Acidic water
Before we talk about what an acid neutralizer is, let’s examine the specific problem that it is designed to solve. If your home’s water has a pH level above 7, it is considered acidic. Acidic water is not dangerous to your health, but it can cause all sorts of problems to your home’s plumbing system. That’s because acidic water is very corrosive, which allows it to eat away at your home’s pipes. Over time, acidic water will cause pinhole leaks to develop in your home’s pipes and will corrode them from the inside out, leading to some expensive plumbing repair bills.
Another common problem with acidic water is that it causes blue and green stains to develop on any of the surfaces and fixtures that it comes into contact with.
The solution: Acid neutralizer
So now that we’ve examined the problem, let’s talk about the solution: acid neutralizers. At a high level, an acid neutralizer is designed to increase the pH levels of your water in order to bring them as close to 7 (neutral) as possible. This is achieved by sending water through a tank that contains some kind of neutralizing mineral (typically calcium carbonate for mildly acidic water or magnesium oxide for highly acidic water).
When acidic water enters an acid neutralizer, it passes through the minerals inside the tank and the minerals dissolve into the water. Because the minerals in the tank have alkaline properties (calcium carbonate has a pH level of approximately 9.4 and magnesium oxide has a pH level of approximately 10.5), the water that leaves the tank has a higher pH level than it did when it first entered. By making proper adjustments to the neutralizer based on your water’s current pH levels, the system can perfectly tune your water to a proper pH level that will be safe for your home’s pipes.
A note about acid neutralizers and hard water
If you know anything about hard water, you might be wondering whether or not an acid neutralizer increases the hardness levels of the water in your home. That’s because the minerals that make water hard (calcium and magnesium) are the same ones that are dissolved into your water by an acid neutralizer.
So does an acid neutralizer make your water hard? That depends on the current hardness levels of your water and the quantity of minerals that are dissolved into your water by the neutralizer. In some cases, we suggest installing a water softener along with an acid neutralizer to get the best of both worlds. Be sure to have your water tested for free by North Carolina Water Consultants to determine which solution(s) are right for your home.
If you have any questions about acid neutralizers, or if you’d like a water system serviced or installed in your home, contact North Carolina Water Consultants, your water softener and water filtration system dealer in North and South Carolina. We provide service all over the Carolinas, including towns like Cornelius, Huntersville and Charlotte, NC.