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Knowing the pH level of water can provide you with a great deal of insight. Whether it’s drinking water or groundwater, testing the pH of water is one of the best indicators of the overall quality and safety of it.
What Is pH Water Testing?
A pH scale is designed to measure how acidic or basic water is. The scale runs from 0-14, with 7 being a neutral reading. When you perform a pH test, you are measuring how many hydrogen ions versus how many hydroxide ions there are in the water.
Here’s what the pH scale can tell you about your water:
- Acidic: Contains more free hydrogen ions and ranges from 0-6 on the scale
- Neutral: Contains an equal number of hydrogen and hydroxide ions and has a reading of 7
- Basic: Contains more free hydroxide ions and ranges from 8-14 on the scale
Importance of Testing the pH of Water
People, animals and plants all rely on safe water to survive and thrive. Knowing the water’s pH levels will let you know how contaminated the water is and what kinds of heavy metals may be present in it.
Here are some of the things that your test results can tell you:
- Acidic: If water is acidic, there could be heavy metals present like copper. Because of this, acidic water can cause problems like blue or green stains, leaks in your plumbing, or even a metallic flavor in drinking water.
- Neutral: Water that has a neutral pH is less likely to cause any of the corrosion issues that you may experience with acidic water and is therefore considered to be optimal for the plumbing in your home.
- Basic: When water is basic, or alkaline, it can also affect the taste. You may notice an unpleasant, bitter taste to the water. It can also lead to a scale buildup, which is often noticeable in bathroom showers.
How to Test the pH of Water
If you’re interested in learning more about the pH of your water, there are several different ways you can measure it:
- Litmus paper: Litmus paper turns blue or red depending on the pH of the water. Red indicates acidic water, and blue means the water is basic.
- pH paper: Similar to litmus paper, pH paper also tests for acids and bases. With pH paper, though, you’ll see the specific pH value, which gives you a little more insight into the water quality and safety.
- Professional water test: For the most comprehensive and accurate results, there are professional water tests. These tests can provide you with information on many different components, including the total dissolved solids (TDS) and water hardness, helping you figure out what exactly is going on with your water and what may need to be changed.
Discover the Trusted Name in Water Treatment Solutions
As a world-leading water treatment company, you can count on Culligan Water to handle all of your needs. We have water treatment solutions designed for residential, commercial, office and industrial clients. For more than 80 years, we’ve been helping our customers discover the exact solutions they need to achieve clean, healthy water.
No matter what kind of water problem you’re facing, our water treatment professionals have local experience to fix it. We’ll come out and test your water and then make recommendations based on factors like usage, plumbing configurations and water characteristics.
Additionally, along with having a team of highly trained technicians and decades of experience, we offer warranties and a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can feel confident knowing that our team will do what it takes to meet your specific needs and ensure you’re satisfied.
Ready to Transform Your Water Quality?
At Culligan Water, we have the water treatment solutions you need to learn more about and transform your water quality. Whether it’s for your home or business, our water treatment solutions are designed to be high quality — yet affordable.
To get started, give us a call at 717-697-0657 or reach out online to get started.