Cu in acidic Vancouver water

• To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
• Subject: Cu in acidic Vancouver water
• From: Paul Lad <Paul_Lad at mail_dnr.state.ga.us>
• Date: Thu, 06 Jun 1996 14:41:09 -0500

Steve,
  Let me see if I can help.  If Vancouver has surface water treatment
then the following will apply.  The reduced pH is due to Federal Drinking
Water regulations.  The US and Canada have very similar regulations. 
  The pH is low to help prevent the formation of Trihalomethanes in the
finished water.  These are a group of chemical compounds that are
formed in water when the Chlorine is added as a disinfectant.
   Well, when the water comes into the plant it is usually < 7pH and during
treatment you add Aluminum Sulfate (Alum -Al2(So4)3 which is acidic if
in the liquid form (most large water systems use liquid alum because of
cost).  As the treated water leaves the plant it is treated with Chlorine
which lowers the pH.  
  The low pH water could dissolve the pipes in your house and add
copper to the water.  And Lead if you have lead solder, and brass
fixtures(brass has 8% lead in it).
  There are some of the things going on.  Why don't you give the water
system a call and ask them for the latest test results on the water?  Ask
for the Inorganic metals results to see what is in the water. Ask if they
have a reservoir and do they treat the reservoir to prevent algae ( they
may be using copper sulfate to do this).
   Sea Chem makes a product that removes copper from the water but I
don't know if it takes out Fe.
Enjoy
Paul  
  From the Olympic city where the traffic nightmare is just beginning!!

• Prev: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #121
• Next: Some threads never die
• Index: Aquatic-Plants Mailing List