Salifert Ammonia Reading - post ro/pre di

phoenix001 · 08/04/2018, 08:02 AM

Hi All

This is a test I just conducted on a sample of my water leaving my RO membrane but before the DI Resin. Looks like the reading is .25 or .5!! Does this mean my RO Membrane is shot?

phoenix001 · 08/04/2018, 08:03 AM

Guess the pic would help. sorry

Dan_P · 08/04/2018, 12:51 PM

I assume the water is not slightly tinted :-)

I don’t know for sure but I’ll wonder out loud. Can chloramine be decomposed to ammonia under the Salifert test conditions? And is your water treated with chloramine?

bertoni · 08/04/2018, 09:45 PM

Maybe. I'd check whether there's chloramine in the water supply. If so, you might need a better carbon prefilter. I'd also check some distilled water. Ammonia kits often fail and read ammonia in everything.

Dan_P · 08/05/2018, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bertoni

Maybe. I'd check whether there's chloramine in the water supply. If so, you might need a better carbon prefilter. I'd also check some distilled water. Ammonia kits often fail and read ammonia in everything.

Just wanted tighten up my understanding of what you meant. There are two types of ammonia test, one that uses salicylate with a blue to blue green color and one that uses Nessler’s reagent with a yellow to yellow-orange color. Which chemistry were you suggesting fails by giving false positives?

bertoni · 08/05/2018, 02:59 PM

I haven't kept track, but my original ammonia kit came from the factory in the failed state, and read ammonia on distilled water, etc. It was Red Sea, but that was a long time ago.

08/04/2018, 08:02 AM	#1
phoenix001 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Posts: 499	Salifert Ammonia Reading - post ro/pre di Hi All This is a test I just conducted on a sample of my water leaving my RO membrane but before the DI Resin. Looks like the reading is .25 or .5!! Does this mean my RO Membrane is shot?

08/04/2018, 09:45 PM	#4
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Maybe. I'd check whether there's chloramine in the water supply. If so, you might need a better carbon prefilter. I'd also check some distilled water. Ammonia kits often fail and read ammonia in everything. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/05/2018, 02:59 PM	#6
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	I haven't kept track, but my original ammonia kit came from the factory in the failed state, and read ammonia on distilled water, etc. It was Red Sea, but that was a long time ago. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/04/2018, 12:51 PM	#3
Dan_P Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 1,432	I assume the water is not slightly tinted :-) I don’t know for sure but I’ll wonder out loud. Can chloramine be decomposed to ammonia under the Salifert test conditions? And is your water treated with chloramine?