Switching from Soda ash to Kalk, how much to dose.

[Enderg60]

Im currently dosing BRS soda ash for my alk dosing and Id like to start up my kalk reactor.

Im currently running 4 ml/hr of soda ash. Id like to start dosing fully saturated Kalk using a continuous doser. I plan to slowly bring the reactor online while reducing soda ash but, What should the equivalent amount of Kalk per hour would match my current soda ash usage?

 

[dwest]

Im currently dosing BRS soda ash for my alk dosing and Id like to start up my kalk reactor.

Im currently running 4 ml/hr of soda ash. Id like to start dosing fully saturated Kalk using a continuous doser. I plan to slowly bring the reactor online while reducing soda ash but, What should the equivalent amount of Kalk per hour would match my current soda ash usage?

If you are using the BRS soda ash recipe, then you will need to dose approximately 50 ml saturated kalk solution to replace 1 ml of soda ash solution. Make sure that your current evaporation exceeds the kalk added. And, check alkalinity often, ideally at the same time each day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, the demand will likely rise as the pH rises, requiring a higher daily dose than calculated, but the precise ratio is 46.5

 

[Enderg60]

Its a 850 gallon system, evaporating 2-3 gallons a day. pH currently sits at 7.6-7.9 so a bump would be nice. So if Im doing 4 ml/hr soda ash, I should be dosing 186 ml/hr of Kalk, which comes to 4,464 ml/day (about 1.2 gallons).

Ok that works pretty good.

Follow up question, when using a continuous doser should I have the mix pump running 24/7 as well?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Its a 850 gallon system, evaporating 2-3 gallons a day. pH currently sits at 7.6-7.9 so a bump would be nice. So if Im doing 4 ml/hr soda ash, I should be dosing 186 ml/hr of Kalk, which comes to 4,464 ml/day (about 1.2 gallons).

Ok that works pretty good.

Follow up question, when using a continuous doser should I have the mix pump running 24/7 as well?

No, limewater (kalkwasser) does not need mixing once dissolved. It is better to allow it to settle and dose from a settled reservoir (allowing some impurities to settle out and giving better control over potency), unless you are space limited and want to use a reactor that tries to dissolve it as you use it.

 

[Enderg60]

This is my first time using Kalk so I honestly dont know. My reactor will be fed off a large RO tank using a Kamora continuous doser to draw water through the reactor and dose the system at a constant rate 24/7.

I figure at some point the mix pump will be on while its dosing. How long/often should I run the pump to maintain saturation? Should I stop dosing while the reactor is mixing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This is my first time using Kalk so I honestly dont know. My reactor will be fed off a large RO tank using a Kamora continuous doser to draw water through the reactor and dose the system at a constant rate 24/7.

I figure at some point the mix pump will be on while its dosing. How long/often should I run the pump to maintain saturation? Should I stop dosing while the reactor is mixing?

An often disregarded fact (especially by manufacturers) is that reactors often do not produce saturated limewater.

If you want actually saturated limewater you will have to stir a lot, and maybe not even then. But if you need less than saturated limewater, you can stir less often.

I'd stop dosing if the whole water column above the solid material gets cloudy. if the cloudiness stays below the point where you draw off the effluent, then you need not stop dosing. Few people stop dosing, as best I can tell.

 

[Enderg60]

Im not really looking for text book full saturation, Im looking for reasonably usable saturation. Ill still have a calcium reactor for the main load and the soda ash for fine tuning with the alkatronic.

Im seeing recommendations to stir/mix 4-8 times a day for 15 seconds to 15 minutes at a time. I guess Ill just have to try various times and see what works best and how long it takes to settle out.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Im not really looking for text book full saturation, Im looking for reasonably usable saturation. Ill still have a calcium reactor for the main load and the soda ash for fine tuning with the alkatronic.

Im seeing recommendations to stir/mix 4-8 times a day for 15 seconds to 15 minutes at a time. I guess Ill just have to try various times and see what works best and how long it takes to settle out.

OK, that sounds fine then.