Ho Important PH

How important is pH?

In Blog, Chemistry by Timothy Petsch

When I teach a CPO class, one of my questions is to ask what the most important chemical test an operator takes. Most come back with that it must be chlorine. I have explained this is an earlier blog, what I want to do here is let you know how important pH is in our everyday lives.

 

pH has a range from 0 to 14.  Below 7 is considered acidic, 7 is perfectly neutral (distilled water for example), and anything above 7 is considered basic (or alkaline).

 

Human blood has a pH range of approximately 7.3-7.5, slightly basic. Should the blood pH go below 6.8 or above 7.8, the bodies functions begin to break down, and sometimes death follows.

 

pH in the mouth is around around 5.6-7.9. If it’s 5.5 and below tooth decay can occur.

 

If you plant a veggie garden it is best to know your soils pH as some plants require an acidic environment and other a basic one.

 

The pH value of salt NaCl is 7 which makes it neutral.

 

Most rainfall is slightly acidic for the first 10 – 15 minutes

 

Everything organic has a pH value. Knowing and maintaining the correct pH when running a recreational body of water is critical to having healthy water; as we have learned, pH is critical to a healthy body, garden, and many other facets of our daily lives.