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Balancing pH, The Short Course

Understanding pH does not require a chemical engineering degree. Simply put, pH is a measurement of acidity (low pH) and causticity or alkali (high pH). A body of water considered to be pH balanced will have a pH of 7.0, lower than 7.0 means the water is acetic and higher means the water is caustic.

Next you must understand that a pH scale is not flat, it’s an exponential curve that represents the amount of acidity or causticity from neutral.

Running acid into alkali

As you can see by the curve the further from neutral you stray the more drastic the pH swing becomes.

Many things can affect the pH of your water, chemicals introduced, and the formation of the water holding system, heat, light and even animal life.

By adding acid to a high pH you bring it down, by adding caustic (alkali) to a low pH you raise it up the scale.

In the balancing (titration) of pH you must be careful to add the opposite chemical value in small doses to keep from overshooting your target pH. There are many titration curves available to chemists that allow them to compute the exact amount of acid or alkali that will accomplish their goal.

In most non-chemical applications such as balancing pH in pond water or a wastewater treatment system exact calculations are not needed. Patience and fortitude are more important. Experience can be obtained easily by testing pH, adding acid or caustic as required and retesting. Over a short period of time you will see the results and learn how much it takes. Don’t add too much at first and then allow the pH to stabilize before adding more remembering that the closer to 7.0 you get the less you will need to add.

What chemical to use?

Acid and alkali come in many forms, you can use over the counter chemicals found in Spa and Pool stores know as pH up and pH down. For small bodies of water this is simple and cost effective (300 gallons or less). For larger bodies of water see your local chemical company and get their recommendations.

You may contact us for advise and additional balancing information on your specific application.

Why do Biodigesters work? Take a moment and take this simple course on bugs...

Biodigesters 101

Introduction

Bacteria existed on the earth long before we humans made it on the scene. They are nature’s best janitors cleaning up after all of the earth’s flora and fauna. For almost every known biodegradable substance on earth there is a bacterium that specializes in its breakdown. The substance to be broken down (degraded) is referred to as a substrate. Bacteria like humans are adaptable and will acclimate (adjust) themselves to almost any circumstances. This includes both food sources (substrate) and their environment.

Step Degradation

Enzymes are the bacterium’s chefs; they prepare the meal for consumption by the bacteria. Enzymes are proteins that form chemical reactions that breakdown the substrate into smaller more palatable bits for the bacteria. Enzymes are so good at their job they can create up to 30 million chemical reactions per second. Here is an example of “Step Degradation”: long chain hydrocarbons (oil) is first broken down into simple fats, then into simple sugars and consumed by the bacteria in Hydro-Biodigesters.

Matching Enzymes to Bacteria

Bacteria produce their own enzymes but will quickly acclimate to the most readily available food source. By including the correct enzymes into our formulas the targeted substrate becomes the most readily available food source. After, when the bacteria start producing their own enzymes they have adapted to the proper food source and thereby produce the proper enzyme for breaking down the particular substrate. Watch out for products that say “bacteria with enzymes” by reading the fine print you will find they say “our bacteria produce enzymes”. This is very misleading, all bacteria produce enzymes.
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