Since we’re on the subject of water (again), had yet another fun experience. Earlier this week, K noticed a couple of inches of water in the pan under our hot water heater. Yep, it seems to be leaking. This is the water heater that I installed one year ago. It was a replacement for a water heater installed 4 years before by the previous owner.
The tendency of our appliances to rust, particularly the water heaters led me to test the pH. Ideally, it should be between 7.0 and 8.0 (or just neutral to slightly basic). Ours was around 5.5 or somewhat acidic. This is a reasonably common problem for people with well water and it causes all of the symptoms we’ve seen (including the degredation of all brass plumbing fittings).
Fortunately, they make a “pH neutralizer†which is really just a fancy name for a tank filled with calcium carbonate (which is just a fancy name for chalk) that water flows through. I’ve got one on order, it should be here tomorrow. Once I get it installed, I’ll see if I can get the store to honor the warranty on our current water heater and replace that too.