pH Control
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Using your FLORATek 4, measuring and adjusting your pH will be a straightforward and nearly completely automated process. However, there are some important things to know about pH control before you use your FLORATek 4.

Understanding pH
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pH is a measure of how acidic or basic your water is, expressed on a scale of 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral water that is neither acidic nor basic. Acids have a pH of less than 7, while bases have a pH of more than 7. Most hydroponics systems use slightly acidic water with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Depending on the exact chemical makeup of your untreated water, your starting pH will likely be about 7.0-7.5.

Water Alkalinity
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The alkalinity of your water is a measure of your water's resistance to a change in pH. The alkalinity of your water may be higher if using mainly tap water, or it may be very low if using distilled or reverse osmosis water. It is not necessary to know your water's alkalinity to use your FLORATek system.

pH Behavior with Nutrients
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When the FLORATek system adds nutrients to your water, the pH will usually drop. For many hydroponics systems, the pH will be lowered somewhat, but additional pH down solution will be needed to reach the desired setpoint. However, if you are using water with very low alkalinity such as distilled or reverse osmosis water, the added nutrients may push the pH down far below the setpoint. In this case, you will need to use pH up solution with your FLORATek to reach the setpoint.

Using Distilled or RO Water
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While we understand the desire to use pure distilled or reverse osmosis water in your hydroponics system, the extremely low alkalinity may cause your pH to be difficult to control. When using DW or RO water, we recommend adding 10-20% tap water to help stabilize your pH.

pH Drift Over Time
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It is important to remember that the chemistry and alkalinity of the water in your hydroponics system changes over time. As an example, you may need to use pH down for the first few days following a water change, but then the pH may drift down past the setpoint on its own. If your pH is slowly drifting beyond the setpoint, simply flush the pH pump tubing, install the required pH correction solution, and change the pH control type setting in the pH setup menu.

Dual pH Control
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Do you want to have full control over your pH? Dual pH control enables you to automate dosing of both pH up and pH down, along with your nutrients.

With dual pH control configured, your FLORATek 4 can automatically adjust pH in both directions, giving you complete automation regardless of how your water chemistry changes over time.