Tap water alkaline water maker
Hello and good day!
Hi Natalie,I have two very happy spirulina cultures from you and had a growing question. I have access to a kangen machine that I can dial in the pH of the water. If I use the kangen water, what elements of the nutrients and salts can I eliminate? Do you know?
Thanks for any input on this,
Natalie
It is good to write to you. I'm so glad that your spirulina is doing well. Regarding water ionizers, those machines claim to produce water of varying pH of water through electrolysis to divide the stream into acidic and alkaline flows. While the electrolysis of tap water and subsequent fractionation is quantifiable in terms of pH, the total alkalinity of the ionized water is largely unchanged because of the fractionation. Alkalinity, is the capacity of water to resist changes in pH that would make the water more acidic. It is measured by how much acid you can add to a system before it dramatically shifts the pH. What the ionizing machine does is raise the pH slightly. Total alkalinity is important in algae culture because carbon dioxide availability is dependant on pH. I made a video on this here.
The salts that we use include sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate- these provide the alkalinity to support a higher standing crop of spirulina. Using a tap-water ionizer will not provide a good habitat for spirulina and the spirulina culture will not be competitive against weed strains that would want to grow in the culture.
So in short, use the ionizer or not, it makes zero difference for the culture of algae. You will need to use the spirulina culture salts if you want the cultures to grow healthfully.
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Best regards,
Matthew
