Greetings. I found this site and am very excited because it's got a lot of answers to my questions.
First, I am about to receive my first hot tub of my own, a bullfrog. So I am investigating the maintenance aspects of the water quality.
I am wondering though if someone could explain something to me concerning the pH? I know what pH is. My job is to maintain a water quality level for plants in a large retail greenhouse. I used to monitor pH (ours is 7.6 to 8.1 depending on aquifer levels from runoff) and then add H2SO4 to bring it down to about 5.8. However as I learned more about the pH levels needed for maximum nutrient uptake, I stopped looking at the pH because it was only an indicator of the alkalinity.
I test the EC of my water (0.25ms) then add fertilizer (salts = conductivity) and measure EC again to know my PPM of the solution (which is then diluted with chemical injectors). I also test the alkalinity of my water for CaCO3 (typically 125 ppm CaCO3) and then chemically inject H2SO4 to neutralize the alkalinity down to about 70ppm. This naturally brings the pH down with it although it may not be exactly at 5.8, it could be higher or lower. But the caveat here is that it is the CaCO3 levels that matter. The pH of the solution has such a very small power to indicate the alkalinity.
So my question here is, for those who may know what I am talking about, shouldn't one just titrate the alkalinity, and use a chemical to bring it to the optimum level and not worry about pH? This assumes your water is very very clean from heavy metals etc and that only has a high or low alkalinity level. pH being the potential of H in the solution will be lowered when the CaCO3 is broken apart and the free H increases. This is coming from using H2SO4 which very easily free's the extra H from the CaCO3.
I know I am missing something here relating to hot tub chemistry. I understand chlorination and sanitizing as I do well shocks when we change pumps and I use chlorine dioxide to disinfect biofilms in plumbing etc. What I'm seeking to understand is how the pH itself has such importance on so many hot tub "how to's" when pH itself going up or down is not really what is happening or described properly but that what is IN the water that is chemically happening is really what's going on. So in my mind, if my water starts at 180 ppm of CaCO3, and I use a Hach Digital Titrator to monitor it, and use whatever chemical to lower it to a hot tub's optimum, would the pH measurement still be such a critical piece of data?
Thanks for anyone who might care to share. I like technical explanations and I don't mind being told I am wrong. It's about learning for me.
First, I am about to receive my first hot tub of my own, a bullfrog. So I am investigating the maintenance aspects of the water quality.
I am wondering though if someone could explain something to me concerning the pH? I know what pH is. My job is to maintain a water quality level for plants in a large retail greenhouse. I used to monitor pH (ours is 7.6 to 8.1 depending on aquifer levels from runoff) and then add H2SO4 to bring it down to about 5.8. However as I learned more about the pH levels needed for maximum nutrient uptake, I stopped looking at the pH because it was only an indicator of the alkalinity.
I test the EC of my water (0.25ms) then add fertilizer (salts = conductivity) and measure EC again to know my PPM of the solution (which is then diluted with chemical injectors). I also test the alkalinity of my water for CaCO3 (typically 125 ppm CaCO3) and then chemically inject H2SO4 to neutralize the alkalinity down to about 70ppm. This naturally brings the pH down with it although it may not be exactly at 5.8, it could be higher or lower. But the caveat here is that it is the CaCO3 levels that matter. The pH of the solution has such a very small power to indicate the alkalinity.
So my question here is, for those who may know what I am talking about, shouldn't one just titrate the alkalinity, and use a chemical to bring it to the optimum level and not worry about pH? This assumes your water is very very clean from heavy metals etc and that only has a high or low alkalinity level. pH being the potential of H in the solution will be lowered when the CaCO3 is broken apart and the free H increases. This is coming from using H2SO4 which very easily free's the extra H from the CaCO3.
I know I am missing something here relating to hot tub chemistry. I understand chlorination and sanitizing as I do well shocks when we change pumps and I use chlorine dioxide to disinfect biofilms in plumbing etc. What I'm seeking to understand is how the pH itself has such importance on so many hot tub "how to's" when pH itself going up or down is not really what is happening or described properly but that what is IN the water that is chemically happening is really what's going on. So in my mind, if my water starts at 180 ppm of CaCO3, and I use a Hach Digital Titrator to monitor it, and use whatever chemical to lower it to a hot tub's optimum, would the pH measurement still be such a critical piece of data?
Thanks for anyone who might care to share. I like technical explanations and I don't mind being told I am wrong. It's about learning for me.