Re: [APD] Lowering KH, Which Is Better: RO Unit or Strong Acid?

[cS <justwrite_cs at gmail.com>]

>it is not a simple way to do it

It "appears" very simple to me.  Figure out what your starting KH is.
Decide what you would like your ending KH to be.  Then add the
appropriate amount of acid.  This is no different from figuring out
how much KNO3/CaCO3/CaCl2/etc. to use.  Am I correct to make to make
this assumption?

>nor is it quicker

Measure out X mL/gram/teaspoon you need and add it to the tank or to
some barrel containing the water.  That's not cumbersome I don't
think.

>it is potentially very dangerous

How so?  Is it the handling of strong acids?  Is it the pH crash?

HANDLING STRONG ACID
You can purchase the dry forms or liquid form in various
concentrations from your local pool supply store.  Of course there is
some risk in handling even these diluted or dry formulations but I
find the risk to be a bit exaggerated.  Perhaps it is due to my
mistake for using HCl as an example instead of something milder like
Seachem's Acid Buffer (H2SO4/bisulfate) which is sold over-the-counter
to anyone, including minors.

http://seachem.com/products/product_pages/AcidBuffer.html
http://seachem.com/products/product_pages/L_AcidBuffer.html

Are we also advising against the use of these two products?
Furthermore, do we not frequently recommend hobbyists to use muriatic
acid (HCl) to test if a rock contain carbonates?  Should we not have?

pH CRASH
Another potential problem that I again feel is blown out of
proportions.  A potential pH crash is not a problem that is unique to
acid users.  Recall that RO water contains no buffering capacity (0
dKH).  The acid resulting from the addition of CO2 should induce a
similar crash yes?

Nonetheless, why are we assuming that acid users will inevitably crash
their pH due to 0 KH?  Why do we assume that acid users will
_completely_ destroy all of the KH?  After all, acid users can control
how much KH is destroyed by controlling how much of the acid is added.
And if the acid users accidentally overdose, can s/he not add
CaCO3/NaHCO3/etc. to bring back the KH _just like_ RO users do?

Is it fair to make these conclusions or am I downplaying the
seriousness of the problems?

- cS -

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