Officials say they hope a new system for controlling pH will address a Columbia resident’s longstanding complaints about acidic water that causes blue staining and can potentially corrode copper pipes.
Brenda Kilpatrick of Pine Ridge Road told the Board of Aldermen Tuesday she’s been having a problem since at least 2013.
She read from an email from the state Department of Health that said the blue staining in her bathtub and shower is indicative of low pH levels and can cause pinholes in copper pipes.
“Some of the women in the area say, ‘Oh, that’s what’s wrong with my hair,’” Kilpatrick said. “But I’m more concerned with my pipe than my hair.”
The scale for pH goes from 1, which is the most acidic, to 14, which is the most basic. The neutral level is 7, but Columbia’s water requires treatment because it comes out of the ground at 4.7, according to Michael McDaniel of MD Electric, which contracts to provide the city’s water service.
He said the problem on Pine Ridge Road is that there is a large, 8-inch main through that area with very little use. He said they tied the pipe into a more-used line along Mississippi 198 to try and get more flow.
They’ve also switched from using lime to raise the pH, which required a powder that sometimes caused clogs, to injecting a chemical phosphate.
He said the old target pH was 8.8, and the new one is 7.2. He said all the lime should be out of the system in two to three weeks.
Kilpatrick said it was 6.6 the last time she checked.
An automatic system tests the water at nine sites throughout the city every three minutes and makes automatic adjustments.
He said on dead-end streets they flush the lines to fix the pH and that they would flush the hydrant near Kilpatrick’s house the next day to increase the flow.
Mayor Justin McKenzie said they’re three weeks into the new system and will wait and see on the results.
Kilpatrick asked if this was the second round of new equipment in five years, and McDaniel said yes because the lime caused it to stop up. He said the new system costs twice as much.
“Hopefully this will work. Y’all will hear from me if it doesn’t,” Kilpatrick said.
