Big Jake,
I hesitate to post this because either you might feel stupid, or worse yet, you might think I'm stupid.
Anyway, when I first got my alkalinity kit from Cole Parmer I tried it out on a couple of ponds. Yikes! Alkalinity readings around 13! And these were ponds that should be fine with lots of limestone, etc. in the watershed. I puzzled and puzzled about it and couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. So I decided my test kit must be bad. In desperation I read the instructions for the 10th time and . . . SMACK! I had to hit myself on the forehead.
I wasn't following the instructions! When I finished titrating in the mixture and getting my color change, I was reading the value right off the side of the glass tube. It never really struck me as odd that the numbers were ALL UPSIDE DOWN! Dumb me wasn't turning the glass tube right-side up to read it.
IF this is the case with you (and I'm not saying that it is), you should be just fine. If so, I'll bet your alkalinity is actually about 30.
Man, I hope that's the answer. Two reasons: One, you won't even really have a problem to solve and two, the official Pond Boss Test-Kit Challenged Club will have two members instead of one.
