The thought of blue water often brings a smile, but seeing a blue tint in your bathwater somehow doesn’t seem right, because it’s not. The water that you use in your home should be clear, with no blue tint and shouldn’t leave blue stains on your water fixtures.
What can make your water blue? A blue tint to water is likely caused by corrosive water causing corrosion of copper piping which gets dissolved in the water. When copper corrodes due to exposure to corrosive water, it takes on a blue-green color which gives the water a blue tint.
Although a blue tint to your water may seem like a harmless occurrence, the copper that is in the water that gives it that blue tint can be harmful to humans when it is consumed and can even cause illness and health issues when it is absorbed through the skin over long periods of time.
How does the blue color get into the water?
If you have ever seen the statue of liberty, you may have noticed that it is blue-green in color. Did you ever wonder why France chose to make it that color? Well, they didn’t! The outside of the statue of liberty is actually made of copper.
Over the years, acid rain and pollution have caused the copper to corrode. When copper corrodes, it becomes a blue-green color. This is the same thing that is happening to the copper pipes in your home.
This corrosion of copper is caused by oxidation which is the removal of electrons from the copper. This bluish green outside layer of corroded copper is called copper oxide.
Tiny particles of the blue-green corroded copper from the plumbing of your home get absorbed into the water. These particles are normally too small for us to see, but when the water is in bright light, the particles cause the water to have a bluish-green tint.
What causes copper piping to corrode?
It may be acid in the water
Acidic water is most commonly the cause of corrosion of copper plumbing in the home.
If water flowing into your water supply has not made enough contact with minerals in the earth that will neutralize acid, it will remain acidic when it is inside of the plumbing of your home.
Although copper is a very resilient metal, when it is exposed to acid, the acid will gradually dissolve the walls of the copper piping.
Sediment and minerals in the water
Although acid in the water is often the cause of copper corroding, sediment in the water will scratch the walls of the copper piping and scrape off particles of copper as well.
Even excessive water pressure in the home can cause gradual erosion of your plumbing and wear of the walls of your copper piping.
An electrical charge in the copper piping called electrolysis
Improper grounding of your home’s plumbing can cause electrolysis, which removes electrons from the copper pipe, leading to the same type of corrosion and blue-green water as having acid in the water would.
Electrolysis is most often caused by common home appliances that use a DC motor to perform a task. Everyday items that we use regularly often use DC current.
An electric razor, hairdryer, or any other electronic device that uses a DC transformer, can cause a DC charge to your homes electrical system which can go through a ground wire connected to your homes copper plumbing.
Electrolysis is most common where a mix of metals are used in a homes plumbing, even a small piece of galvanized metal making contact with copper piping will initiate electrolysis in copper piping.
Saltwater eats copper!
You may have heard the phrase “Saltwater eats cars”, and it is very true. It is also true of copper piping. Salty water from your well can be eating away at your copper piping, weakening your pipes, and turning your water blue.
Although copper is very resilient to acid, which is why it is often the metal of choice for plumbing where acidic water may be an issue, it doesn’t hold up well when exposed to water with excessive salt in it.
Having a home by the ocean sounds like a wonderful thing, but the saltwater from the ocean could be wreaking havoc with your plumbing if you have copper piping.
Just like road salt used in the winter to melt snow causes corrosion on cars and trucks, saltwater dissolves the walls of copper piping, and the corroded copper turns blue, which can leave your water with a blue color.
Blue tinted water usually means copper in the water which can also mean lead in the water.
Because solder is used to connect one piece of copper piping to another, if the solder used in your home is a lead-based solder, your water may not only be corroding your copper pipes, but also the lead-based solder.
Even though lead-based solder was banned in the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986 (source), homes built before 1986 may have solder containing lead which can get absorbed by corrosive water.
It is highly recommended to have any solder that may contain lead removed from your home and to have your water treated to make it non-corrosive to the plumbing in your home.
Is blue water safe to bath in?
Bathing in water containing small amounts of copper over a short period of time will normally not cause any ill health effects, but over a long period of time, enough copper can be absorbed into your body to cause Vomiting, Diarrhea, Nausea, and an elevated risk of liver problems and kidney disease.
If you are experiencing blue water in your home, quick showers rather than long baths are recommended. And look into an immediate resolution to the cause of your blue water issue.
Can I drink blue water?
I don’t recommend it! Drinking water that has even small traces of copper in it has been known to cause stomach pain and even vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea. And besides the possible ill effects, it usually tastes pretty bad too.
What can be done about blue water?
The most common reason for blue water is the water is acidic, so naturally, neutralizing the acid in your water will solve your acidic water problem which will solve your blue water problem.
How we treat your acid water will depend on just how acidic the water is. For slightly acidic water with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0, using calcite in a 10-inch diameter x 54-inch high tank backwashing filter should neutralize the water to the point where it will no longer corrode your copper plumbing.
For more acidic water bellow 6.5, using a larger 13-inch diameter x 54-inch calcite filled tank will allow the water more contact time with the calcite and therefore it will be able to neutralize more acid than a smaller sized tank.
If the pH of your water is bellow 6.0, you may need to use a soda ash chemical feeder system to inject acid-neutralizing soda ash into your water which can neutralize more acid than a calcite backwashing filter but requires a little up-keep by the homeowner.
If your home is in need of some up-grading anyway, changing your plumbing from copper to plastic Pex tubing will eliminate the copper altogether.
The acid in your water may still gradually corrode your water fixtures, but if your water is only slightly acidic, replacing your homes plumbing may be a wise and long term solution.
Blue tint to your well water is normally caused by traces of copper in the water, the copper in the water is due to copper being corroded by the water that passes through it. Eliminate the cause of the copper corrosion, and the blue water should go away.
I am on well water with a uv filtration system. My pipes are plastic. Recently I have noticed a blue tint but without copper piping could this be copper mineral in ground (in well) causing the blue tint? How do I fix it? I have young children and I am greatly concerned.
Hello Heather, and thank you for the question.
Your problem may be electrolysis.
If you are getting a blue tint in your water, it is most likely because of copper in your water, but not necessarily from your well water. Even though you do not have copper piping throughout your home, you probably have some copper piping or fittings on and around your water pressure tank.
Electrolysis happens when the copper piping develops an electrical charge which causes corrosion of the copper piping and fittings. Because you have plastic piping going into your home, if there is a charge in any copper piping around your pressure tank, the charge has will cause corrosion of any copper that it is exposed to. The solution is most likely that you need to ground any copper piping in the home so the copper will not build up any electrical charge.
You also may have acidic water that is corroding the copper by your pressure tank. You can test the pH of your water by using a simple water test kit.
I hope this was helpful.
Paul