Neutralizing Filters
Neutralizing filters or pH correctors are used to restore the calcocarbonic balance in the water.
Water becomes aggressive when it is very acid. Aggressive water is not highly charged with mineral salts. It therefore has a tendency to corrode copper and other metals.
To avoid this problem, we will use calcite, a neutralizing media. Calcite is a natural product that restores the water balance. Balanced water does not react to metals and does not clog. The pH level of neutral natural water is between 7 and 8.
There are two ways to use the neutralizing filter : upstream or downstream. When used downstream, it can also act as a primary sediment filter.
Calcite and Corosex,
Several options are available to resolve water aggressiveness problems : neutralizing sand or injecting a liquid form of a base compound. Calcite and Corosex are the neutralizing sands available on the market today.
Calcite contains calcium carbonate and Corosex contains magnesium oxide.
Like natural rocks, Corosex and calcite add hardness and alkalinity to water to reduce its aggressive features. With these products, we can imitate nature.
The following are chemical reactions made with these sands and water:
- Calcite : H2O + CO2 + CaCO3 « 2(HCO3)- + Ca2+
- Corosex : H2O + CO2 + MgO « 2(HCO3)- + Mg2+
- Calcite : 100 mg CaCO3 neutralizes 44 mg of CO2 and produces 40 mg Ca2+ and 100 mg of CaCO3 hardness and 100 mg CaCO3 alkalinity.
- Corosex : 40 mg MgO neutralizes 88 mg of CO2 and produces 24 mg Mg2+ and 100 mg of CaCO3 hardness and 100 mg CaCO3 alkalinity.
What stands out about these products :
- Corosex : Uses less media to rapidly correct and increase pH levels. With a prolonged contact time, it will often produce too much hardness and alkalinity and considerably increase the pH level.
- Calcite : Dissolves more slowly, does not overly correct pH level even after prolonged contact time.
- Using Corosex and Calcite can give good results but it is very difficult to calculate results since there are many parameters to control.