How do I trust the base water of my pH adjustment?

[Pondwater]

So I want to calibrate my pen it says put the solution into di water , now ph water can be 5.5 to 8 apparently 7

so how do I know if my base water is correct when adding the 4ph and 6.8ph powder ?
when I do this I am told I need to adjust my pen 0.8
but if the base water is out 0.8 to their water the result is skewed?
I mean my tap always reads 7.5 and it does now but if I adjust this pen to the solution then my tap is going to be like 8.4 which I k ow it isn’t
what do I trust

 

[Phytoplankton]

I think you’re supposed to use distilled water to make the solutions. Distilled water has a ph of 7.

 

[Pondwater]

I think you’re supposed to use distilled water to make the solutions. Distilled water has a ph of 7.

Ok distilled is different to deionised my bad

 

[BeccaBuds]

DI water can have very low pH and ec as low as 55.6 nanoSiemens. Usually for calibration you use a calibration solution. For one point cal most use 7.01pH cal solution. For 2 point cal get 4.0pH and 10pH (or 7.01pH) solutions. Two point cal is most accurate but not all meters use it. You can't use DI or distilled for cal. I think they just want you to rinse the probe with it after testing. I'm fanatical about rinsing my probe on my HI-9814- it lasts longer!

 

[Phytoplankton]

With my cheap pen, to calibrate you use distilled water to make the solutions used to recalibrate the pen (or set it up initially). You also rinse the tip with distilled water between solutions.

 

[BeccaBuds]

You have to mix your own calibration solutions, @Phytoplankton? That's crazy. That's not a standard reference. I'll stick with my pre-mixed NIST certified Cal Solutions, thank you! What happens if you make a mistake and use too little or too much distilled water? You come up with a liquid with a different pH, that's what!

 

[Absorber]

I got some distilled water from service station 1ltr bottle from memory the ph of it was 4 ,if that helps

 

[Gru]

Ph test kits with the drops should get you into the general range to tell if your pH meter is messed up or needs recalibration.

 

[Phytoplankton]

You have to mix your own calibration solutions, @Phytoplankton? That's crazy. That's not a standard reference. I'll stick with my pre-mixed NIST certified Cal Solutions, thank you! What happens if you make a mistake and use too little or too much distilled water? You come up with a liquid with a different pH, that's what!

The certified solutions cost more than my pen does!

You have to mix your own calibration solutions, @Phytoplankton? That's crazy. That's not a standard reference. I'll stick with my pre-mixed NIST certified Cal Solutions, thank you! What happens if you make a mistake and use too little or too much distilled water? You come up with a liquid with a different pH, that's what!

The calibration solutions cost more than my pen!

 

[BeccaBuds]

I found the powder on Amazon. Still seems dubious to me. I've checked several vendors distilled water for pH and TDS and they are definitely not all equal. One example is Arrowhead, they don't carbon filter the water after distilling and it has higher TDS than others that would make your TDS read 30 points high. It's pH is a little higher too.
The solutions are hella expensive though, you are right about that.

 

[Phytoplankton]

I found the powder on Amazon. Still seems dubious to me. I've checked several vendors distilled water for pH and TDS and they are definitely not all equal. One example is Arrowhead, they don't carbon filter the water after distilling and it has higher TDS than others that would make your TDS read 30 points high. It's pH is a little higher too.
The solutions are hella expensive though, you are right about that.

I have the Amazon powders, first time I bought them they were fine, the second time the powders wouldn’t dissolve completely! I have pretty cruddy water, very high tds, sometimes in the 1400-1700ppm’s, always above 450. The PH is about 7.6, which is fine.

 

[BeccaBuds]

OMG, @Phytoplankton 1400-1700 ppm does not sound like a safe water source. Anything over 500 is considered unsafe! R u on well water?
Did you try raising the water temp to get the chems into their soluble state (of course let em cool before use)? If not try using water around 120 Fahrenheit. That will likely help.

 

[Phytoplankton]

OMG, @Phytoplankton 1400-1700 ppm does not sound like a safe water source. Anything over 500 is considered unsafe! R u on well water?
Did you try raising the water temp to get the chems into their soluble state (of course let em cool before use)? If not try using water around 120 Fahrenheit. That will likely help.

Actually there are no rules for tds, but yes our water, while not considered unhealthy, is like drinking mineral water. About 150 properties are served by a tiny water company, and it’s well water (the well is in the lot next door). The Ca, Mg, and manganese levels are very high.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Sounds more like you're eating minerals with a water chaser, lol! My water here was running 350ppm for a long time and I thought that was bad. Now it's improved to 200ppm average. It still doesn't taste good unfiltered though.