ph and water softeners

Brad White

If water, I would buy distilled water if you want to be fussy or at least filter it. Even if you use your hard water, remember that forced hot water is a closed system and a one-time fill (ideally). Water make-up over time is obviously a problem.

If you want to inject chemicals to raise the pH, what is the base pH to begin with? If hard water I suspect it already is above 7.0. Here in Boston it is 8.0 more or less. I use TSP as a cleaning solution and despite rinsing it out it still feels silky and soft (not sure if that works on your minerals though.) But the pH is around 8.5 to 8.0.

Talk to George at Rhomar (rhomarwater.com). They have a sample program and can help you with their Hydrosolv (for the old piping and system in general) and their 922 for the long haul.

Good stuff but reputed to make a gawdawful Martini.

If it is steam (with more makeup water despite good intentions), I will defer to the Gods of Steam.

Jeff_66

ph and water softeners

We want to do everything possible to make sure that our new boiler does not detiorate like the old one, so:

1. Is it worth investing in a water softener? (our city water is pretty hard). If so, do we need a high-end model?

2. How are chemicals used to raise the ph of the water in the boiler? How do I get the chemicals and how would I get them into the boiler?
Thanks!

Jeff_66

it's steam

Sorry I didn't clarify that we have a single-pipe steam system.