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pH

Do you have bluish-green stains on your home's water fixtures?
Then maybe you have a pH problem. This doesn't necessarily mean something bad though.
pH refers to whether the water is acidic or alkaline.
The pH scale goes from 0 to 14, with a pH of 7 generally considered neutral.
Water with a pH below 7 is considered acidic and corrosive, and water with a pH above 7 indicates alkalinity and tends to effect the  taste of the water. An acceptable pH level is somewhere between 6.5 and 8.5 according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

pH has no effect on your diet or your health unless the level is extremely low or extremely high. A pH level of 5 will cause no harm since a can of carbonated soda may be 10 to 100 times more acidic. The pH in your stomach may be 1000 times more acidic.

In some places private wells nearly always have pH problems. Certain areas lacking limestone are notorious for having low pH. If you see bluish-green stains on the tub or sinks of a home using copper water pipes, acidic water is corroding the metal parts of the plumbing system. If a home has brass water faucets or copper tubing whose solder contains lead, high levels of lead may be found when water stands
in the pipes overnight. Running the water before drinking generally eliminates this problem.
Waters with a low pH are very low in hardness and are considered naturally soft. If plastic piping is used in the home low pH has no adverse effects, however if copper tubing is used low pH will shorten it's life span. Acidity or low pH is caused ;by natural geological conditions at the site, possibly compounded by acid rain.
Neutralizers, which are available from water treatment companies, can adjust the pH to the desired level.
Our advanced Chemistry class at Westby High School decided to test the pH level of the water from our  households. The three different types of water sources tested were; City of Westby, Village of Coon  Valley, and rural private wells.

To prevent bad pH levels in your drinking water we suggest that you have your water checked periodically and if you have bad pH levels neutralizers are available from water treatment

This is a digital pH meter used to measure the pH of water or other liquids.

This is the buffer solution used to calibrate the pH meter.

This is a sterilized bag with a sample of water. We put our samples from home     in these little bags called Whirlpaks. Then we inserted the calibrated pH meter and waited until the digital numbers on the meter stopped moving then we took the  reading.

This is a reading on the pH meter. This reading happens to be 8.31 which is a little high but it wont hurt you. The meter may not have been calibrated right or the water sample just might be bad.
A good reading is between 6.5 & 8.5.       

Graph of results
Locations tested
Sources of information
Credits