Low pH

Acidic water. EPA secondary range is 6.5–8.5. Below that, corrosion and metallic taste are the published effects. Sequence the neutralizer first.

Category
aesthetic
EPA status
Secondary standard 6.5–8.5. Low pH associated with bitter metallic taste and corrosion; copper secondary 1.0 mg/L with blue-green staining.
Typical sources
Private wells in certain geologies; not the usual city-water complaint on the two city files shipped here.

What actually fits

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Low pH is a sequence problem. A calcite or calcite/magnesia acid neutralizer dissolves into the water, raises pH, and adds hardness. The softener, if you still want one, is sized to the water after that bed.

EPA’s private-well page lists corrosion and plumbing metals as reasons to test pH, lead, and copper. We will not diagnose lead poisoning from a pH strip.

City files on this site (Phoenix, SCV) publish pH inside or near the secondary range as system water. This contaminant is almost always a well file.