Distillied water and kalk

[CRAWL]

doc, i was wondering. i got a water distiller

http://www.steamdistiller.com/megadis.jpg

only problem is, when i add kalk to this distilled water, the water never goes *clear* as per the kalk instructions, even after 48 hrs. of setting. is this a problem or should i not concern myself?

[rshimek]

Hi,

I am moving this to the Reef Chemistry expert forum for a better answer than I can give.

:D

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Crawl:

<< only problem is, when i add kalk to this distilled water, the water never goes *clear* as per the kalk instructions, even after 48 hrs. of setting. is this a problem or should i not concern myself?>>

What does it do? How are you looking at it?

Some people do report it takes a long time to settle. That's just a function of the particle size of the Ca(OH)2 or CaO used.

If you leave it open to the air, IME, it will never look settled because CO2 is entering the water and creating new CaCO3 precipitates. Did you let it settle when closed from air?

[CRAWL]

thanks randy, i bought a clear plastic jug to mix the water with kalk. when i use tap water, the mix clears withing 48 hours. the distilled + kalk stays cloudy color. is this ok to drip into tank or does the solution have to be clear?

i can take some pics to illustrate better tonight.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The difference between tap water and distilled is a bit puzzling.

One other thought. Try measuring the pH of the distilled water.

Heating it will drive off any CO2, but the condensation process may load it back up again (from your house air). If the distilled water had significant CO2 in it, then you might get some very fine CaCO3 precipitates that would stay in solution.

So, to test this, try measuring the pH of the distilled water prior to Ca(OH)2 addition.

[CRAWL]

sorry i didn't get the picks up. i didn't get home till late.

i'll run another batch of water and test the ph. i may not have results though till tomorrow. to run a gallon of water is 6 hrs and i have to pick up a new ph test kit.

thanks again.

[CRAWL]

doc, wow, the ph of distilled is at a whopping 6.0. i didn't realize it was that low. anyways i didn't and won't use the distilled / kalk mix until i have a better idea of what's going on.

is it even safe to add this as makeup water with such a low ph?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

A pH of 5.67 is what you get when normal air mixes with water until CO2 is at equilibrium. Assuming proper calibration of the pH meter, you have about half that much.

There is nothing wrong with using that water unless you have chronically low pH. It is simply delivering some CO2 to your tank.

Two possibilities come to mind:

1. The house air around the distiller may be high in CO2. Lowering it by opening a window might help.

2. Aerating the water won't help, and might make it worse.

3. If it could be enclosed somehow, that might also help.

[CRAWL]

thanks for your time randy. i'll check the ph on my tank to make sure it isn't low. if i continue to use the distiller, i'll keep a closer eye on my tank ph levels.