question about adjusting water parameters

[scott]

i have been using r/o water for all of my tanks since i started keeping fish about 4 years ago. the tap water in my town is horrible. i called the water authority to ask obout the water which has a ph of 9+ (my ph test kit doen't test any higher) but is only 0-1 dgh and 0-1dkh. i was told that the water in the resevoir is very soft and acidic which is bad for the pipes so a chemical is added to protect the pipes and that is what causes the water problems. because of this i don't mix tap water with r/o water to bring it to the proper ph and hardness. i have been using a product from kent called r/o right for the gh and ph stable for the kh. is there another option besides using these chemicals or mixing tap water with the r/o water to get the proper parameters. any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[LyreTail]

My water district also raises the pH slightly because acidic water will cause all kinds of lead and copper leaching into water supply along with deteriorating pipes. My pH from the tap is 7.4, but soon reduces to 7.0 with aeration, because KH is less than 10 ppm

KH controls the buffering of the water in most areas - The bases bicarbonate (HCO3-), and carbonate (CO32-), and occasionally hydroxide (OH-), borates, silicates, phosphates, ammonium, sulfides, and organic ligands will also contribute to total alkalinity

Normally the least expensive and cheapest thing to add to water to raise pH is a base phosphate buffer, but since algae is prone to take over a phosphate rich aquatic environment, many water districts have been switching to calcite which should raise GH and KH along with the pH

I am just a little curious as to what the heck they are adding to your water?

 

[fishgeek]

if the kh and gh readings are accurate then any small amount of acidic material (peat for instace) will shoot your seemingly nice water back down to a low ph that may even require some alkalinity added

try a few test buckets with peat at differing ratio's in your tap and see waht happens

there is heaps of info under peat on this forum and the net in general

andrew

 

[scott]

thank you both for the info. i will call the water authority again and ask exactly what it is they use in the water. i know they said that whatever it is coats the pipes to protect them. when i get more info about it i'll let you know.