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Topic: Faucet + Citric acid. What happened?  (Read 1350 times)

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Offline SimpleQuestion

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Faucet + Citric acid. What happened?
« on: January 20, 2021, 02:20:18 PM »
Hi,
I don't really know chemistry, but some chemical reaction happened when I tried to clean a faucet, and I need help in understanding what happened.
I have a used faucet that looked like this(attached file). I decided to clean it a bit. So I put some citric acid powder on it and some hot water. I tried to clean it like I clean the electric kettle, but maybe I should have thought better about this. The thing started bubbling. After a couple of minutes I poured the water out. The water was greenish, and the inside of the faucet got covered with red residue. Now I wonder what happened here. Did I damage it? Did I clean it? What is the red residue and is it safe to use for drinking water? I have no idea what the faucet is made of, but from the color of what happed I here, I guess it is something with copper. Did the acid damage the copper in the alloy? Did it just clean the copper oxide? Is it now less safe to use for drinking water than before, more safe, or the same?

Offline jeffmoonchop

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Re: Faucet + Citric acid. What happened?
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2021, 03:13:18 PM »
Probably calcium citrate

Offline SimpleQuestion

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Re: Faucet + Citric acid. What happened?
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2021, 03:32:30 PM »
Probably calcium citrate
Red? I was thinking more like a reaction with the metal.

Offline billnotgatez

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Re: Faucet + Citric acid. What happened?
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2021, 05:39:44 PM »
from WIKI
Iron(III) citrate maybe red?

from the internet americanelements.com ??
Copper Citrate Properties (Theoretical)
Compound FormulaC12H10Cu3O14AppearanceBlue to green powder

from Quora
Calcium deposits happen when calcium salts precipitate out of water, and dry up. Most often, the calcium plaques (scales) are water-insoluble salts of calcium - carbonate or sulfate are most common, but calcium chloride can also form a deposit when the water dries up.

Citric Acid is an organic tri-acid (it has three carboxylic acid groups) that is fairly soluble in cold water. Citric acid is more acidic than carbonic acid, and can react with carbonates to release carbon dioxide and water (CO2 + H2O).

« Last Edit: January 20, 2021, 06:00:19 PM by billnotgatez »

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