7 - 0 - 0 + 29.5% S
| ANALYSIS |
AUSTRALIA
W/V % |
INTERNATIONAL
W/W % |
| Nitrogen
N |
7 |
4.66 |
Sulphuric Acid Equivalence 57%
SG 1.50
pH <1
Reducer is primarily designed for soil and water application where the pH needs to be lowered into a more acidic range. Reducer can also be used for fertigation purposes to supply nitrogen and sulfur. Reducer is an acidic fertiliser which combines urea and sulfuric acid in right proportion. By combining the two materials into one product, many disadvantages of using these materials individually are eliminated. The sulfuric acid decreases the ammonia volatilisation losses from the soil surface and ammonia damage in the root zone that can occur with the use of urea alone. Urea sulfuric acid is safer to use than sulfuric acid alone.
Water Quality has a major impact and performance of plants in every facet of agriculture horticulture and turf usage.
In Australia most sources of irrigation water contain some amount of dissolved carbonates, bicarbonates and silicates. The combination of these species produces many complex reactions with essential nutrients in soil making them unavailable to plants, destroy soil structure and form insoluble precipitates in irrigation systems. Metallic micronutrients, when applied with phosphates form insoluble metal phosphate compounds in the irrigation lines, which fortunately, can be solubilized with the addition of Reducer in irrigation water by its acidifying mechanism.
Reducer, a safe complexed form of sulfuric acid also provides nitrogen for fertilizer purposes. This product is much safer to handle than a dangerous sulfuric acid solution on farm with little personnel hazard. This ability makes it more user friendly in lines with the occupational health and safety guidelines. A pH of 2-3 is all it takes to clean plugged irrigation lines and emitters. Reducer also gets rid of algae, slime, organic matter, and bacterial build-up as a result of carbonates and bicarbonates in irrigation water. Plugged lines can be cleaned with water acidified with Reducer to a ph of 2 and holding at this level for 2-5 hours. Adding 100ppm of chlorine to the acidified water, as a shock treatment, helps dissolve biological slime and inhibits new growth. Regular flushing of the irrigation lines and emitters with acidified water will prevent plugging. Reducer is a safer alternative to sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid for cleaning and maintaining drip irrigation systems, and to lower the soil pH for maximizing micronutrient availability in alkaline calcareous soils.
Water Analysis - to determine the concentrations and levels of the following; a water test is required to best assess any potential problems which may arise.
pH |
Bicarbonate
HCO3 |
Water Quality
Effluent water generally will test high in number of undesirable
characteristics, high pH, high bicarbonate, high carbonate, excessive
sodium and high total soluble salts.
Check The Analysis
A less than accurate water quality analysis can be misleading
and may result in serious consequences. The quality of the analysis
can be evaluated as follows:
- The sum of the concentration of cations (Ca + Mg + Na) should be about the same as the sum of the concentration of anions (Cl + CO3 + HCO3 + SO4);
- The sum of the cations and the sum of the anions should be near 10 times the electrical conductivity (EC) value;
- A pH of
8.0 or higher is usually associated with a measurable concentration
of bicarbonate (HCO3)
SprayGro Reducer/Fertiliser is well suited for fertigation and can be used for other purposes.
• To add nitrogen to the soil. This application can be used as a general fertiliser strategy.
• To clean irrigation lines, drip lines and emitters blocked with calcium carbonate deposits. Once lines have been plugged, Reducer can be injected to clean irrigation lines as a reclamation strategy.
• To increase the availability of calcium in soils with free lime. To reduce soil pH for increased solubility, availability and mobility of several micronutrients.
• To prevent soil crusting, thus improving germination and soil structure. This can be used as a sustainable strategy for high production.
• To optimize the efficacy of many herbicides and fungicides by resisting alkaline hydrolysis in the tank mix. This can be used as Tank Mix Buffer Solution strategy. Be sure to slowly add Reducer to a tank mix and check with a pH meter or litmus paper until the desired pH is reached.
-
General Directions For Use
Inject into the irrigation system to neutralize carbonates and bicarbonates and to dissolve other deposits. Add 1.5-2.5L/1000L of water or target a pH of 2-3 and leave in lines for 3-6 hours followed by a thorough flushing of the system. The following table indicates the rate of Reducer required neutralising 90% of the bicarbonate in 1000L of water.
meq/l
(Contains sulfuric acid)
CORROSIVE
CLASS 8GENERAL INFORMATION
- Water pH below 4.5 can corrode metal pipes and concrete
- Suitability of application and use rates should be determined by water test as the levels of carbonate and bicarbonates varies with water source.
- Avoid contact with eyes and skin
- Always add acid to a large volume of water. Never add water to the acid
- Chlorine and any other material should be added to the acidified water
• To acidify the irrigation water, thus reducing the amounts of carbonates and bicarbonates in the water. Continuous use of high pH irrigation water will tend to raise pH of soil, which will inactivate phosphorous and trace elements. This application can be used as a maintenance strategy to keep soil pH at optimum level. Reducer can readily be applied directly into your irrigation water via an injection dosing system which automatically monitors the pH of your water and adjusts pH accordingly to desired level.
Trend
In recent years, acid injection into irrigation water has become a common practise in USA courses and also now in Australia. Without acidification, some irrigation water is capable of creating toxic conditions of turf grass or damaging soil structure by disrupting the ratio of sodium ions (Na+) to Magnesium (Mg++) and Calcium (Ca++) ions in the soil. When superintendents must work with such a low quality water, acid injection is an an appropriate tool.Sodium
Sodium is not an essential element of plant growth. On the contrary, it can be toxic. Some soils are naturally high in sodium ions, and golf courses that use sewage effluent as their primary water source may develop a sodium problem.In addition to damaging plants, sodium ions can have a detrimental effect on soil structure. Imagine droplets of water applied to a fine talcum powder. The water tends to bead on the surface and infiltrate very slowly into the powder. Fine textured soils, such as a clay-loam, are composed of similar fine materials.
As sodium ions increase in the soil, they absorb to the cation exchange sites and displace elements needed for plant growth. Because the sodium ions is monovalent (Na+ has only one positive charge) whereas the calcium ion is divalent (Ca ++ has two positive charges), two lage sodium ions displace one small calcium ion. The net effect of the sodium ion build up is a dispersion of the aggregates, resulting in a soil that has a structure more like that of talcum powder than normal soil. Irrigation applied to such tens to remain on the surface, and infiltration is very slow. Soil damaged by sodium provided a poor medium of plant growth.
Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR)
SAR is a ratio of sodium to calcium and magnesium which indicates the severity of sodium levels as a potential problem in irrigation water.Bicarbonates
Water sodium hazards is also increased by bicarbonates (HCO3) and carbonate CO3-2) ions, which can remove calcium and magnesium ions from solution in the form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and magnesium carbonate (MgCO3). With fewer calcium and magnesium ions present in solution, the SAR for a given level of sodium rises, and the sodium hazrd increases.Acid Injection
Reducer acid injection in irrigation water can be most beneficial on soils with high adjusted sodium absorption ratios.Reducer pH Acidifier puts strong acid into the oil which reacts with the calcium bicarbonate, the primary cause of alkalinity. The bicarbonate is destroyed, returning carbon dioxide (CO2) back to the atmosphere where it came from and the solubility of the calcium is greatly reduced by precipitation as gypsum.
Phosphorous and trace elements, which will have been inactived by the alkali, will be solubilized.
The result is improved soil structure, which relieves compaction and black layer conditions, allowing leaching of undesirable salts.
Symptoms of poor Water Quality
Turf damage may take years to build up and be evident. Damage will show up mainly during summer when irrigation use is at its peak with little flushing from fresh water (rain).Visible symptoms include: Wilting and drought stress
. Thinning of turf
. Yellowing of turf
. Increased disease activity
. Soil compaction
. Development of black layer
. Poor response of fertilizerRef: Why inject acid into irrigation water? N Christians pHD GCM june 1999
. Water quality for microirrigation. TA Hasson pHD AVG Feb 1999
Click label to view application rates.
