Rebedding acide neutralizer

It sounds to me like you only have a 9" x 48" tank, that is a 1 cuft AN filter. And to raise pH from 5.8 to 7.0 is going to be iffy with that small tank. If you have more than 2 people in the house, and more than 1-2 bathrooms, that filter is not going to do the job most of the time.

Gravel is a good thing, it reduces the pressure loss across a filter or softener.

The tank should have about 15" of freeboard space. That is more than half full. The 90/10 may not be sufficient for a pH of 5.8. I'd go 85/15 or 80/20.

Thanks for responding.

You may be right, the diameter may be 9 inches. We have 5 people and 3 bathrooms in the house. I'd rather not buy a new tank having just replaced the computer head on it last year. I'll try 80/20 and see where it gets me. What about an even higher ratio? If capacity is a limitation, couldn't I just move the mix up to 70/30 (or whatever) in order to achieve the desired pH? Or is it a function of throughput? Once I get the pattern down of what to do and why, I don't mind checking on it monthly to see if I need to add more neutralizer. What do you think?

Also, is 7 the magic number? Would 6.8 be good enough? I have pvc piping throughout.

The 80/20 or a higher mix will over correct and you won't like the water then. Plus it eats up the 'corrosex' quickly which then prevents you getting to 7.0 eventually.

You should have like a 2.0 cuft unit; assuming the pump could backwash it successfully. There is a SFR (service flow rating) for all filters and softeners, your 1 cuft AN filter's SFR is probably like 3-4 gpm meaning, every time you run more than that gpm through it, it can't adjust the pH that fast/quick and it won't be able to get to 7.0, and maybe only 6.2 etc..

Yes if you are going to buffer acidity, you want neutral pH of 7.0 although the guvment says you're OK with 6.5 but they used to say below 6.9 wasn't good enough.

I use 1.50 cubic foot 10x54 Enpress Vortech tanks with Fleck 2510SE valves and backwash
them daily or every other day depending on conditions and the results are outstanding.