Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry Alkalinity Test Kit Verification

PO - We are glad it worked out fairly good. A person in our situation is exactly who we worked up this simple alkalinity standard for.

Water produced by reverse osmosis (RO) essentially has no alkalanity or hardness. For all practical purposes RO water is just about as pure as distilled. HOWEVER as the RO membrane ages and collects contaminants the resultant water does contain some impurities. Thus the RO membrane element should be routinely changed. The local company (Culligan) that I buy my filters from recommends a change of the RO membrane every 5 to 7 yrs and carbon element every year, depending on the amount of inflow, usage by the membrane, AND the quality of incoming water (amount of contaminants & dissolved solids). Larger households than two people my need to replace membranes sooner than every 5 yrs. Water company said that they can check a small sample of the RO water and tell when the RO membrane needs replacing. They probably do a conducivity test.