What is Acid Water and should I really be all that concerned?

It depends on where you live. If you’ve ever seen blue green stains on your sinks and tubs or lived with corroded fixtures anywhere in your home, you more than likely have damage from acid water. Acid water can be very corrosive and will eventually destroy even water heaters and shorten the life of all your water using appliances, including washing machines and dishwashers.   The problem is it cannot be detected by its visual appearance, feel or odor, yet the signs of its destruction are unmistakable. Acid water will in fact inevitably eat away at your chrome fixtures, plumbing, metal parts and fittings causing pinhole leaks in copper pipes, which if behind a wall or ceiling can lead to catastrophic water damage to your home.

Because acid water is fairly common to the hydrology of South Central PA, it can be found throughout the entire mountain region of South Central PA, where the hard quartzite beds line the aquifers.   NicMar Water’s field water specialists can help you solve even the most daunting acid water problem if you live anywhere in the York, Hanover, Gettysburg and Harrisburg areas.

Call NicMar | Martin Water at 717.528.8444 for any acid water treatment services in the greater York, Hanover, Gettysburg and Harrisburg area or click here to contact us for immediate service.

In order to eliminate it…you need to understand it.

So what is it? Ironically Acid water is the extreme opposite of hard water. Hard water, which is characteristically found in the aquifers in South Central Pennsylvania valleys where there is mostly an abundance of soft and porous limestone, is rich in calcium (which buffers the pH), in contrast to Acid water which is very low in mineral content. The problem is a matter of pH, which in the case of Acid water is too low. The Acid water molecule is so corrosive because it essentially wants to bond with everything it comes into contact with. The net result is that in the process it dissolves everything from copper to chrome… which is why it is referred to as Acid or Acidic water because of it’s destructive nature.

Where most water treatment companies fail in South Central Pennsylvania is that they do not take TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) readings into consideration, which are just as important as pH. “Starved Water” that has a low TDS is hungry to bond with anything it come into contact with. Water that has a high TDS is already “saturated” or “full” so it is less likely to bond with anything.

It’s all about balance.

NicMar | Martin Water’s 30+ years of “tribal knowledge” of South Central PA’s water, enables us to determine the level of magnesium oxide needed to be added to the sacrificial media (calcite in the form of crushed marble rock added to the treatment system to interact with the water) needed to neutralize the acidity.

Why is this important?

TOO MUCH magnesium oxide will turn the sacrificial media (the crushed marble rock added to the system) into a concrete-like block making it ineffective.

TOO LITTLE magnesium oxide will not properly correct the pH problem.

For more severe Acid water conditions, where the pH levels are significantly lower than 5.5 and higher flow rate are required or a combination of low pH and high TDS (rare, but does occur), NicMar | Martin Water recommends its Stenner® pH correction System or “pH Buffer.” This system injects the pH buffer according to the flow rate, at any given time so the pH adjustment is very exact.

To learn more about Acid Water and get a FREE in-home pH water analysis and estimate, call at NicMar | Martin Water treatment specialist today at 717.528.8444.

The Best Acid Water Treatment in York, Hanover, Gettysburg and Harrisburg

If you have an Acid water problem and need expert water treatment service anywhere in York, Hanover, Gettysburg and Harrisburg, NicMar | Martin Water has the expertise to solve it. We understand that in the mountain areas of South Central PA, Acid water can be very daunting. Our technicians Scott Hoak, Danny Sentz and our WQA level 6 Acid water expert Mark Williams have the know-how and experience to resolve the most difficult Acid water problems in the entire region South Central PA.

We serve customers throughout York, Hanover, Gettysburg and Harrisburg and are available for emergency service and repairs. Call us any time.