Fix rusty water
#1
08-13-16, 07:25 PM
Fix rusty water
Just bought a house with a well and had the water tested. It showed Arsenic and Lead above recommended standards, so I put in an RO system and it appears to have fixed it. However, all my other water is very, very rusty looking. What other options do I look into to remedy this? There is currently a water softner, but not sure if it's working.
#2
08-13-16, 07:45 PM
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Wet side of Washington state.
Posts: 16,321
Received 38 Upvotes
on
30 Posts
It MAY be in the water or it MAY be the piping in the system. If you have galvanized steel piping then rust is common. It is also a sign of deteriorating piping and that will need to be addressed.
What results did you get from your independent water testing lab? Low pH (below 7.0) is corrosive and will attack steel piping.
What results did you get from your independent water testing lab? Low pH (below 7.0) is corrosive and will attack steel piping.
#4
08-13-16, 08:39 PM
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Wet side of Washington state.
Posts: 16,321
Received 38 Upvotes
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30 Posts
Small p and capital H. It stands for hydrogen ion concentration and is the indicator for how acid or alkaline the water is. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14 with numbers below 7 being acid and above 7 being alkaline. Ground water (from a well) is usually alkaline because of the minerals dissolved in it while surface waters (from streams/rivers) is often acidic. Acidic water is corrosive and the lower the pH the more acidic it is and the higher the corrosion rate.
Galvanized steel piping is most susceptible to corrosion and in my area where the municipal water supplies are almost exclusively surface waters (from mountain snow melt) the pH often runs as low as 6 to 6.5. The water utilities have actually taken to adding calcium in the water at the initial treatment plants to reduce the corrosion rates of the steel piping in the systems.
On the other hand, some ground water naturally has high iron dissolved in it and this iron can and often does precipitate out of the water leaving typically blue, but often orange, staining in porcelain fixtures. If you are getting flakes of metallic rust in your water it is usually deteriorating piping or a pressure (or holding/heating) tank on the verge of failure.
Galvanized steel piping is most susceptible to corrosion and in my area where the municipal water supplies are almost exclusively surface waters (from mountain snow melt) the pH often runs as low as 6 to 6.5. The water utilities have actually taken to adding calcium in the water at the initial treatment plants to reduce the corrosion rates of the steel piping in the systems.
On the other hand, some ground water naturally has high iron dissolved in it and this iron can and often does precipitate out of the water leaving typically blue, but often orange, staining in porcelain fixtures. If you are getting flakes of metallic rust in your water it is usually deteriorating piping or a pressure (or holding/heating) tank on the verge of failure.
