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Reaction of soap in water
We spent a weekend in a country house (private house, not a business) 3 months ago. They use borehole water for all personal use.
This water gave me a lot of disgust because I felt a slight smell of rotten egg. The people in the house explained that they had refilled the roof tank recently, at first the water smells that way but in a day in the tank, the smell disappears. They told me they did a water analysis in a laboratory and the water is suitable for human consumption, and it is an untreated water.
The second day the odour desappeared, but i did not shower, drink or eating anything with this water.I was very curious when i mixed that water with the soap they used to wash the dishes (In the label: Potassium soap, made with vegetable oils, contains no perfume, coloring, thickener or bleaching. 100% natural) and the water became milky white with a bluish touch.
I took a little soap and in my house, with running tap water, that color did not appear.Maybe something in the water reacts or interact with the soap, i know without an analysis it will be impossible to respond, but just wanted to read an opinion, what could be happening?
Next week we will visit again. I´d like to mix supermarket ingredients with different ph to see what happens. Bicarbonate, ammonia, vinegar, lemon, alum stone, sodium hydroxide …
I am aware that some unexpected reaction may occur. Or not… but I do not want to do anything dangerous, or burn anything, or anything similar. Could this be dangerous in any way?
Thanks.
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3 Replies
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at a guess, the turbidity you saw is probably due to the mineral content of the water, which would be much higher from a borehole than it would be from a reservoir
metal ions with multiple charges, particularly calcium, aluminium and iron (most commonly found in tap water), cause soaps to precipitate and form ‘soap scum’
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This water gave me a lot of disgust because I felt a slight smell of rotten egg
Hydrogen sulphide. Caused by rotting vegetable matter. The water is probably acidic. Take some pH strips. -
Thank you very much for the explanations.
I already have the PH strips.
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