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ph and water softeners - one-pipe steam system

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Sheila
Sheila Member Posts: 26
in THE MAIN WALL
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!

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I use

    I use Water right water softner, one unit, takes out the hardness, iron and raises the ph in one pass....
  • Phil_17
    Phil_17 Member Posts: 179


    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.
  • Bernie Riddle_2
    Bernie Riddle_2 Member Posts: 178
    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.....
  • Sheila
    Sheila Member Posts: 26
    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?
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