I purchased a home last year and insisted on a comprehensive water
test. The test showed 3 items of concern, but my inspector insured me
that those items were as a result of the water softener which he did
not bypass to get a sample. I accepted those answers but am now not
certain that they were accurate.

In the last several months living here I have found the water to taste
bad, poorly lather and leave a salty residue on washed dishes. I have
had a (non-copper) pipe corrode and leak and a minor flood from a
supply line nut corrododing away and coming free.

To recheck the test results, and to make sure I am setting my softener
correctly I brought a sample of water to my counter health dept that I
bypassed the softener to get. I requested a hardness test and a
corrosivity test and I am concerned by the results, the TDS in
particular.

LSI: -0.75
Alkalinity: 136 mg/l
Hardness - Calcium: 208 mg/l
Hardness - Total: 244 mg/l
TDS: 1309 mg/l
pH: 7.16 @ 17.7 pH

Here is an excerpt of the ORIGINAL test results (it is 3 pages long in
total with nearly a 100 items on it):
No bacerial results
Inorganic metals all ND or very low, except for Sodium at 640 mg/l
Alkalinity: 120 mg/l
Chloride: 520 mg/l
Flouride: ND
Hardness: ND -- ?
Nitrate: 8.4 mg/l
Nitrite: ND
pH: 6.4
Sulfate: 30
TDS: 1300 mg/l

I am considering getting my water tested again to identify what might
be causing the high TDS. I am suspecting Chloride which the original
test indicated and which I believe the inspector was mistaken to
attribute to the softener as the softener exchanges Ca and Na but this
should add chloride to the water. I am also thinking that this may be
the consequence of a highway I live very near to in NY and de-icers
penetrating the aquafier.

I would very much appreciate some informed opinions and suggestions.
I am not certain who I can contact to help me better interpret this
data... the people I speak to seem to know considerably less than I do
and I am not that well informed!

Help!
Michael

Michael wrote:
....
... I brought a sample of water to my counter health dept that I
bypassed the softener to get. I requested a hardness test and a
corrosivity test and I am concerned by the results, the TDS in
particular.

LSI: -0.75
Alkalinity: 136 mg/l
Hardness - Calcium: 208 mg/l
Hardness - Total: 244 mg/l
TDS: 1309 mg/l
pH: 7.16 @ 17.7 pH

Here is an excerpt of the ORIGINAL test results (it is 3 pages long in
total with nearly a 100 items on it):
No bacerial results
Inorganic metals all ND or very low, except for Sodium at 640 mg/l
Alkalinity: 120 mg/l
Chloride: 520 mg/l
Flouride: ND
Hardness: ND -- ?
Nitrate: 8.4 mg/l
Nitrite: ND
pH: 6.4
Sulfate: 30
TDS: 1300 mg/l

I am considering getting my water tested again to identify what might
be causing the high TDS. I am suspecting Chloride which the original
test indicated and which I believe the inspector was mistaken to
attribute to the softener as the softener exchanges Ca and Na but this
should add chloride to the water. I am also thinking that this may be
the consequence of a highway I live very near to in NY and de-icers
penetrating the aquafier.

I would very much appreciate some informed opinions and suggestions.
I am not certain who I can contact to help me better interpret this
data... the people I speak to seem to know considerably less than I do
and I am not that well informed!

Might start at

http://www.health.state.ny.us/enviro...er_quality.htm

There are additional links there as well...

--

Michael wrote:

I am considering getting my water tested again to identify what might
be causing the high TDS. I am suspecting Chloride which the original
test indicated and which I believe the inspector was mistaken to
attribute to the softener as the softener exchanges Ca and Na but this
should add chloride to the water.

No, it adds sodium

CaCO3 + NaCl yields NaCO3 + CaCl (which is what is flushed out doing
regeneration, never enters your water)


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Apr 13, 6:38*am, "dadiOH" wrote:
Michael wrote:
I am considering getting my water tested again to identify what might
be causing the high TDS. *I am suspecting Chloride which the original
test indicated and which I believe the inspector was mistaken to
attribute to the softener as the softener exchanges Ca and Na but this
should add chloride to the water.

No, it adds sodium

CaCO3 + NaCl yields NaCO3 + CaCl (which is what is flushed out doing
regeneration, never enters your water)

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Sorry, I typoed and missed the word "not".

I am suspecting Chloride which the original
test indicated and which I believe the inspector was mistaken to
attribute to the softener as the softener exchanges Ca and Na but this
should --- NOT --- add chloride to the water.

That was actually my point, the softener will add sodium to the water
when it exchanges with the calcium, but this should NOT add chloride
to my water. My inspector had told me my chloride results were high
because of the softener... thank you for confirming my understanding
to the contrary of what he told me.

-Michael

On Apr 13, 8:22 am, Michael wrote:
On Apr 13, 6:38 am, "dadiOH" wrote:



Michael wrote:
I am considering getting my water tested again to identify what might
be causing the high TDS. I am suspecting Chloride which the original
test indicated and which I believe the inspector was mistaken to
attribute to thesofteneras thesoftenerexchanges Ca and Na but this
should add chloride to the water.

No, it adds sodium

CaCO3 + NaCl yields NaCO3 + CaCl (which is what is flushed out doing
regeneration, never enters your water)

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Sorry, I typoed and missed the word "not".

I am suspecting Chloride which the original
test indicated and which I believe the inspector was mistaken to
attribute to thesofteneras thesoftenerexchanges Ca and Na but this
should --- NOT --- add chloride to the water.

That was actually my point, thesoftenerwill add sodium to the water
when it exchanges with the calcium, but this should NOT add chloride
to my water. My inspector had told me my chloride results were high
because of thesoftener... thank you for confirming my understanding
to the contrary of what he told me.

-Michael

The softener may not be working right and adding sodium and chloride
to your water. Substitute potassium for sodium if you are using salt
substitute instead of softener salt (sodium chloride).

Yes road salting can cause high sodium, chlorides and TDS and all
three are corrosive to metals. So get tests for pH (yours is a bit
low), total hardness, TDS, chlorides, sodium, sulfates, iron, nitrate
and Coliform bacteria.

Your nitrate is somewhat high and that can be a health concern,
especially for a fetus and infants. Nitrate fluctuates seasonally with
precipitation levels and snow melt.

The Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) is not a good corrosivity test,
there are others that are much better but IMO none will benefit you
much in identifying what might be causing corrosion and we know that
high TDS, chloride and sodium will cause it.

Gary Slusser
Quality Water Associates