posted on Jul, 28 2010 @ 07:27 PM
Water utilities are required to have their test results released to the public. You can even contact the regional EPA office and request a copy of
these results. Arkansas would be in region 6.
As for the high pH. It varies across the country, as you can see for these postings. In the Kansas City metro area, a pH of 9.5 to 10.5 is routine.
There are technical reasons for this, but to bottom line this real quick. This is a hard water area regardless of water source. The cost of lowering
the pH down to a lower level after the softening process is too expensive. Carbon dioxide gas is added to the water supply (forms carbolic acid) to
lower the pH to an acceptable level. Phosphate is then added to the water as a sequestering agent to keep the excess calcium locked in a stable form
so it just builds a small amount of scale instead of a large amount of scale.
If I was looking at the EPA's testing, after a high pH, I'd look at total phosphate and then orthophosphate concentrations. You'd want a fairly
close relationship to keep organic phosphates to a minimum.
Chances are, you'll get sick at seeing all the other chemicals in the water supply at various levels.