Question on Kalk reactors

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I have a GEO and love it. Have been using it over a year now. All I do is 1) I calibrate every 2 weeks. And 2) I simply add a bunch of kalk to the chamber. I am sure I am adding too much, but I only need to add it maybe once a month? Lately though my PH will quickly drop to 12.1, but when it mixes there is clearly a ton in there mixing up. Should I be emptying this periodically and flushing it and starting fresh every few months? I’m a year plus into simply adding to the reactor. Thoughts?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

A ton of solids does not necessarily mean a ton of dissolvable calcium hydroxide. Calcium carbonate solids (from calcium hydroxide reacting with CO2, either before you put it in, or in the reactor) will look the same.

I'd suggest gauging potency of the effluent based on conductivity (saturation is about 10.3 mS/cm). pH of the effluent can be used, but more crudely.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

A ton of solids does not necessarily mean a ton of dissolvable calcium hydroxide. Calcium carbonate solids (from calcium hydroxide reacting with CO2, either before you put it in, or in the reactor) will look the same.

I'd suggest gauging potency of the effluent based on conductivity (saturation is about 10.3 mS/cm). pH of the effluent can be used, but more crudely.

@Randy Holmes-Farley that’s super helpful. So, is it true then that the drop off is exponential? So 12.1 vs 12.2 is a decline to a factor of 100? Or is it 12.10 vs 12.11, and so on and so on?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley that’s super helpful. So, is it true then that the drop off is exponential? So 12.1 vs 12.2 is a decline to a factor of 100? Or is it 12.10 vs 12.11, and so on and so on?

A drop of 1.0 pH is a factor of 10, and a drop of 0.1 is about 26%. A drop of 0.3 is a factor of 2.