03-08-2016, 05:16 AM
quote:
Originally posted by bystander
I noticed the pH of my tank water changed from 6.2 on Friday to 5.2 today. Must be the vog combined with the tiny amount of rain we got. I think this concentrates the acid going into the tank. Either that or it could be all the dust going on the roof.
You are correct bystander, during dry weather the acidic vog particulate deposits on your roof and, with a little bit of rain, gets washed into the tank as a slug of acid. UH College of Tropical Agriculture publishes a pamphlet on maintaining catchments - www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/rm-12.pdf - and recommends treatment of the tank water to maintain a near neutral pH. The low (acidic) pH can do serious damage to your pump and copper piping and, in older systems with lead-based solder, accelerate leaching of lead from the solder joints. Either baking soda or dolomite can be used to push the pH into the neutral range...