Kalkwasser reactor replenishing

[Fatboy]

Randy,

I have a Deltec KM500 Kalkwasser reactor and regarding Kalkwasser replenishment, the manual says the following:

As the saturated solution within the mixer gets old the pH will fall due to reaction with dissolved CO2 from the supply water. For this reason it is recommended that the mixer is thoroughly cleaned out every 2 weeks or when ever the elevating effect on pH within the tank is seen to diminish. For this reason it is better to make regular small additions of calcium hydroxide powder rather than make one initial large batch.


On the other hand, I've read that some owners are just adding new kalkwasser without emptying the reactor and they have done this for several months.

My reactor is connected to a top off system controlled by an Aquatronica controller, so it gets RO/DI water as it evaporates from the tank.

Should I clean the reactor every two weeks ? With fresh water entering the reactor, is the kalk going to loose power ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What to do may depend on whether you absolutely need saturated limewater all the time, and how good (pure) the water is that you are adding. I personally wouldn't clean it out every time.

With fresh water entering the reactor, is the kalk going to loose power ?

The issue is insoluble impurities building up, making it hard to stir, or even hard to tell when it is depleted except by conductivity (or less desirably, pH) of the effluent.

 

[Fatboy]

Thanks Randy for the answer.......

According to my TDS meter, my water is coming out of the RO/DI between 0 and 1, so my water should be very pure. The main reason for using a Kalk reactor is to raise the pH of the tank, rather than supplying calcium and alkalinity (which is done by the calcium reactor). Still, having as much saturated water as possible wouldn't hurt.

How often would you recommend to clean the reactor and replenish with new Kalkwasser ? I have noticed that after using it for a month, the pH of my tank isn't going up as it use to do. Could it be that the Kalkwasse has lost power because of impurities ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, it could be that after a month, most of what is left is not lime, but other things. So I'd try cleaning it out and adding fresh lime and see what effect that has.