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"RO water" with a PH of 7.7+ ?


ryanryan88

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Hey all,

Just a quick question;

I'm trying to transition over to using RO water.

Today I went and got 50 Liters of "RO Water" from a garden center. When I got home and tested the PH of this water it came out at over 7.6. I used a digital meter which read 7.69 and also the API test kit which was darker than the highest reading on the chart of 7.6.
This PH is like almost as high as our normal tap water in this part of the country where we have hard water.

Any ideas here? is this even RO water? 

I thought RO water should come out at around 5 or 6 on the PH scale?

Any advice appreciated!

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I thought RO water should come out at around 5 or 6 on the PH scale?

 

Only RO/DI water have fairly low PH.  The deionization post filter remove any ions that past thru the prefilters and RO membrane and in turn give you the purest water with 0 TDS and relatively low PH (mine is around 6.4).  While is standard on any decent RO unit for aquariums, it is usually not commonly found in RO filters for drinking water.I never ran my tapwater thru my RO filter without the DI stage but some of my friends did and they say the PH is around 7.0 or higher.

 

But 201ppm for RO water is high! looks like they haven't been keeping up with their filter changes. Even without an DI post filter it should be around the low teens; with DI it should be 0

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Thanks for the explanation Jumpsmasher! That cleared up some confusion I had about the 'DI' in RODI and the whole PH thing. 

I am hoping to eventually graduate into keeping some Bee shrimp.. I am trying to get a handle on the RO water thing and transition into it and start remineralizing the water myself.

Say, for example, I managed to get RO water here with 0 (or close to zero) ppm on the TDS meter but it still has a PH of 7 or above (if thats even possible) - is it possible to get the PH down to the optimum of 6.2 - 6.9 by adding treatment to the water? Is treating the water with a PH down less than ideal for keeping these soft water loving shrimp? 

Do you guys all buy RO water and its like 0 ppm and 6 PH? Do you make your own RO water? 

So many questions. I'd be lost without you guys!
 

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The high ph in your ro water is probably due to dissolved gasses, you can throw an airstone in the water over night and see if it gasses off. At 0 tds it should be fairly easy to change the ph through various means. I know some people use ph down with success, most will recommend using buffering substrate for a more stable environment

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yup there is various ways of doing but as the KH is essentially zero it won't be very stable.

 

When i dose Bio-culture SMW it drops it the pH below 4(!!!) and than it slowly recovers.  Some people filter it thru peat moss to lower the ph as well. Unless it is continuously filtered thru a softening media, it will go back up; maybe not as high as it was before, but not as low as it was initially.  That is why it is a good idea to let it aerate for around 24hours before adding it to your tank - that and what Dendrobatez said about gasing off any CO2.  And yes once it is in the tank the buffering substrate will keep it at a certain level.

I would look at getting a basic RODI filter - up here in Canada a basic five stage one runs for around $150 CAD (~  $120USD)

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Glad you were able to get your money back, certainly not RO or RODI water with a TDS that high.

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Just for kicks and giggles - take the pH of a glass of RO/DI water and then blow several breaths through airline or a straw or something to bubble your breath through the RO/DI water and take the pH again. It will give you a strong understanding of the value of buffers.   

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I brought back the water today. The guy said come back tomorrow and check the water to see if it is suitable for me - he will refill after "rinsing" the containers... he said something about possible residue on the sides of the containers (which i bought there) and that might be responsible for the high TDS reading. I'm still learning and i may be wrong, but it sounded a lil bullsh*tty to me. Either way, I said I will go back and check it out for the sake of it. Will see what they come out with but I am not optimistic.

Unfortunately I have not yet found a source for RO/DI water anywhere near me so I may well have to look into buying my own RO/DI equipment. 

Thanks a mill for the explanations and info everyone, much appreciated!
 

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lol yeah Soothing. Will report back the TDS readings tomorrow for amusement. 

I have grocery stores here but I did not see any special water that seemed to fit the bill. They had store brand and Volvic. Neither of which would be suitable or viable in the long run, I don't think. 

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Do you have a Wal Mart near you? Most of them have the RO machines and many grocery stores do as well. If you are looking at gallon jugs on the shelf they are labeled as drinking water, look at the nutrition and ingredients area it will says processed by reverse osmosis. 

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I live in Ireland. Unfortunately we do not have walmart here.

I will go out now and check the remaining shops near me for bottled water options... but we do not tend to have the same amount of options in our grocery stores here as you guys tend to have in american supermarkets. 

Will check it out now and post back anything I find which might be of use.

Thanks guys.

 

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Good point.

You could check out distilled water, which is often available in gallon jugs at grocery stores. That seems to be my only local option. It seems expensive unless the tank is very small, though.

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