Orleans tap water pH spike

[MikeM]

Has anyone else noticed a big jump in the pH out of the tap in Orleans?  My city water has been mostly stable at 7.6 - 7.8 pH, 2 - 4 GH and KH through the whole summer.  Tonight the pH tested well off the top of the chart, which maxes out at 8.6 as a dark blue.  The tap water tests to a deep purple.  It's not my test kit, as my tanks still read correctly, and the pool test strips also show a huge pH spike, somewhere near 9.  I had done a water change in my 10g on Thursday and all was normal.  I'm glad I tested before I did my usual "let it rip from the python" water change on my 75g tonight.

I've left a bucket out with an airstone to see if it stabilizes, and even if so, it seems the honeymoon of easy water changes is over .

[Julie]

Well water tends to degass more during the cooler weather.    The change in temp causes c02 to degas; hence the fluctuation in ph.  I notice more bubbles in my water during the winter and I would assume city water follows the same route.  The city water is not as hard as my well water, so it would have less buffer and more volatile.

[normc]

I just tested the tap water here (Cumberland side of Orléans) and it was between 8.4 and 8.8, normal for this area. Out of the tape it has never tested lower. I don't test on a regular bases but ever time I have tested it has always been the same. The water plant boosts the PH to 8.9 so that the cloromine works better.

[Julie]

It also depends on what point you are at on the water main.

[MikeM]

Thanks for the suggestions.  It settles back down to the 7.7 - 7.8 range after a night in a bucket with an airstone.  I've been testing my tap water on and off for years, even before I had fish, because of the pool, and it was always the same, high 7's and very soft.  In retrospect I've only ever really tested in the warmer months, again because of the pool.  I knew the plant pumped the pH up to 9 or so to hold the chloramine and keep the water from absorbing heavy metals from old pipes, I just figured I was far enough from the source that it had mostly stabilized by the time it got to my house.  Perhaps in cooler temperatures that's not the case.

I guess I'll have to get a big bucket and leave my water out overnight now, and get a heater and a pump.  More gadgets good, more work bad 

[normc]

I've never worried about it. I do 15 to 20 % water changes straight from the tape and I've never had any problems and I keep discus fish.

[OrchidNow]

Well, when I was having all that trouble with my water in Aug and Sept, sometimes the PH was over 8. I don't know....seems that the fish is better since I started using Prime. And I have always left the water out in a bucket for a couple of days first. And I still have fish died.