Is hard water acidic or alkaline?

[dianecty]

Hi everyone! I live in San Jose, CA and the water here is very hard! Orchids and other plants here always get calcium like, powdery marks.

Is hard water acidic or alkaline? I heard that orchids love acidic water and am thinking of adding coffee, vinegar or tea to my watering soup.

Obviously, if hard water is acidic then I won't add any more acidic stuff because it might be too much.

What do you think?

[Bird Song Farm]

Hi Diane,
My well water is very hard and acidic. I do not know if this is the rule......hard water/acidic water, or not.
I'm sure someone with a chem background will chime in!
Al

[Ray]

Calcium deposits tend to indicate alkalinity.

[dianecty]

Hi! The reply posts are exactly opposite to each other!

[Ross]

Originally Posted by dianecty

Hi! The reply posts are exactly opposite to each other!

If it helps, my city water (before the water softener) runs almost 8 (7.7-7.8). It has approx. 200 grains calcium plus iron and also lots of chlorine. This seems to agree with Ray's post, for what it's worth. I agree water hardened by calcium tends to be basic (high pH.)

[caseydoll]

Yes, hard water is alkaline. I worked at a pet store for many years and tested a lot of water. I'm sure there's exceptions but low ph/soft water usually equals acidic and high ph/hard water is usually alkaline.

[Bird Song Farm]

I based my reply on my aquariums (when I kept them).
Well water in Maine is know for it's hardness, my Ph is about 6. I used to have to do partial water changes each week and treat for Ph constantly to maintain a Ph of near 7 for a community tank....
Other than than...I don't know.
Al

[Des]

I think you will find that it is alkaline . But why not make sure and have it tested. It may only be slightly alkaline and by adding vinegar you might just alter the PH to the other extreme The ideal PH for most orchids lies somewhere between 5.5 and 6.8 , the only other exception that I know of are Disas which prefer a PH of 4.5 .
Ideally you need to Buy, beg, steal or borrow a PH meter, so that you can on a regular basis check the PH of your water Also remember to checK the PH only after adding your fertilizer as many of the commercial fertilizers are acidic and will drop the PH to within tolerance The tap water here in PE has a PH of about 9 after adding fertilizer to an EC of 800μS the PH reads 6.5 ,so there is no need for us to add an acid to correct the PH

[Learner]

Hard water is has lots of mineral content dominated by calcium and calcium ions. Because of this, it usually, but not always, has a pH higher than 7 (neutral). I think it would be easier to collect rain water and avoid trying to manipulate the pH with vinegar or other acids.

[dianecty]

Hi everyone! I did some research on my own and could not understand the explanation. I will follow the consensus which is it is alkaline. There is a lot of residue.

Does it mean that the more residue, the more alkaline it is?

It does not rain a lot here. Collecting rain water would be very "hard" , haha!!

Thanks a lot!!