blue water 2

[4402]

i have read all the comments on this question and still have no answer for me. i have a well. i have a culligan treatment system - sand filter, 3 graduated filters, uv, and softener. while a glass of water will not look blue, a bowl will. it is sky blue -not really greenish. neither potassium nor sodium softeners has made a difference. culligan has tested the water and found copper and ph within limits. what else can i do? i do not drink this water (but my dogs do). it seems to me that there has to be something wrong insider the house. otherwise, you would think that all the filters would have pulled out the color. any help greatly appreciated.

 

[orenda1168]

If you mean that Culligan found the copper content "within limits" and those limits are the EPA drinking water limits of 1.3 mg/L, a copper concentration approaching the EPA limit is sufficient to color the water.


Orenda

 

[4402]

thanks, orenda. does this mean i do not need to be concerned that my copper ppipes are disintegrating?

 

[francesca]

You could always calculate the rate at which they're corroding to make yourself feel better about it. (concentration x flow rate = mass/day / atomic weight = cubic feet/day x circumference of pipes x length of pipes = picometers per day of corrosion)

 

[orenda1168]

Further to Francesca's suggestion, it may be that the copper originates mainly with the water source and not particularly from your copper piping. As long as the water's pH is not acidic, i.e. measurably less than pH 7, the liklyhood of the piping being the cause is very small.

If the water source is a municipal authority, they can provide the mean copper level of the incoming water. If this is about the same as the measured copper from your tap, then your piping is not the source. If you are using well water as the source, the same applies, though you'll need to have that analyzed.

Orenda

 

[rconner]

I think there have been some discussions over the years on the AWWA e.g. "public" discusssion forums concerning various "blue water" issues (you might want to check also the archives of those lists).

 

[TravisMack]

Orenda:

I had the exact same thing. You fill up a glass, and it is not evident. However, as you fill larger items (5 gal bucket, bathtub, etc) there is a distinct blue to the water. I had our water company rep (city system) come out to check the water. She argued with me that it was not blue, and since it was not blue in a glass, then it must not be anywhere. We showed her the tub, and she claimed it was reflections from something in the bathroom. However, there was nothing blue in the room. I then took a 5 gallon bucket outside and filled it. She agreed that there was a blue tint, but it was nothing they were concerned about or would do anything about.

We then went and had it tested for copper among other things. Nothing was present in any significant levels. To this day, I am still unsure of what causes the blue tint, but I don't have a rash of neighbors dying off from bad water , so I assume it is relatively safe.

 

[bimr]

Just because the color is blue, does not indicate that the color is due to copper.

There was a thread on another posting discussing the color of water.

The attached photograph shows a pond left of center with an aqua blue color. The color is due to a high concentration of calcium sulfate in water.

If you will provide a complete analysis of your well water, someone can probably identify the material causing the color.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...3,-88.363209&spn=0.045001,0.107803&iwloc=addr

 

[blueoak]

4402,
If you are worried about the house why don't you take a sample near the well. The first thing I checked for concerns with my well was the neighbors. The new copper limits make it a little more worrisome, but it is also important that some of the standards are based on consumption for a very long time. I might also check right before your filter system. It sounds intense.

 

[4402]

thanks all. i will get it tested again and submit the results to you all

 

[celliott210]

We, too, have blue water in northern Illinois from a private well. We were told by the well driller that it was caused by the groundwater running over blue shale and picking up the tint.

 

[blueoak]

But what's the tint?
I have always enjoyed working with well drillers, especially when they spend an hour with willow cuttings to site the well.

 

[rconner]

Decades ago I know my father kept some hair cutting/combing utensils in a beautiful blue/hue colored solution (that I suspect was probably of course hydrated "copper sulfate", apparently some unfriendly to algae/microbes etc.) Apparently per the site

http://www.copper.org/applications/compounds/agricultural.html

copper compounds/salts etc. are still used for many purposes, perhaps particularly in some agricultural/livestock areas (and I think also for algaecides in pools etc.)
As others have stated such applications/sources might well not have anything to do with your "tint", but I just thought I’d add I think at least some such salts etc. are indeed “blue”!

 

[bimr]

You are probably thinking of Barbicide, a product that was invented by a fellow that disliked barbers. He invented the material because he had grown tired of getting infections at the barber shop. The color is due to dye not copper:

http://www.king-research.com/pdf/msds/Barbicide_MSDS.pdf

As far as well dowsers go, stay away from them. Any competent well driller would have nothing to do with such quackery.