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Need cheap pH measuring method for student project

April 23, 2009

hello.
I am making a project for softening of water. basically I m removing calcium and magnesium ions to make it a suitable feed water for boiler.after the whole process I have to check whether ca and mg ions are removed or not. I have to adopt a cheap and less time consuming method to make it economically beneficial. I will be very thankful if you share your ideas with me.
thanx alot!

Javeria Ahmed
student - Karachi, Pakistan

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Water softening puts a very high sodium content in the water. Is this suitable water for a boiler. High pressure boilers normally use RO or DI water. Cheap pH meters are available from any scientific supply house. They do need to be calibrated before each use. If you are talking about an in line pH meter, there is no such thing as a "good" cheap meter.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
May 15, 2009

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Fun fact! Goldenrod paper can be used as acid/base test strips.

Though when you say you want to check for concentration of Ca and Mg ions, I'm not sure how pH applies to that. You need either an ion-specific electrode or a test reagent that produces precipitate in the presence of those ions.

Ray Kremer
Stellar Solutions, Inc.

McHenry, Illinois

June 2, 2009