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ph and water softeners - one-pipe steam system

Sheila
Member Posts: 26
We want to do everything possible to make sure that our new boiler does not deteriorate 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?
This is a single-pipe steam system.
Thanks again for the advice!
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?
This is a single-pipe steam system.
Thanks again for the advice!
0
Comments
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I use
I use Water right water softner, one unit, takes out the hardness, iron and raises the ph in one pass....0 -
I was reading an installation manual a couple weeks ago (perhaps it was for the MegaSteam?) and they had a bold highlighted box stating that under no circumstances should you use softened water for boiler makeup... Made me think about things, that's for sure.
I know there are many here who know their chemistry better than I, but I think you may run the risk of causing a lot of corrosion problems due to the lack of iron in the water (leaches it out of the boiler) and there was a recent thread where they were talking about chlorine/chloride causing problems with 300 series stainless.0 -
I am no chemist but...
I treat waste water at my automotive radiator repair shop and I always have to raise my PH before I treat and I use Sodium carbonate to do that. I have chemicals to lower PH if needed but cant remember what it is right now.....0 -
What about chlorides?
Doing some reading on this forum, it seems that chlorides are a major problem for steam boilers. I don't know what the chloride level is of our feed water, but I do know that the water source for the city has a very high chloride level (probably from a lot of road salt making it into the lake). We can't get a Megasteam because we need natural gas and we need a bigger size boiler than the Megasteam makes - so, is there anyway to filter out the chlorides without doing anything that "softens" the water so our next boiler will last more than 4 years?0
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