Water conditioners help maximise pesticide effectiveness
Is hard water and high pH causing havoc with your tank mixes? If it is, you’ll need to condition hard water and correct pH with a water conditioner to maximise pesticide effectiveness.
With susceptible pesticides, hard water and high pH could deny you 30% of their efficacy. A water conditioner engineers the water so high pH and hard water cations do not interfere with your pesticide. Correcting water quality with an effective water conditioner, before you add your pesticides to it, can be vital to maximise pesticide performance.
Why do we need water conditioners?
- Most water in England is hard/very hard
- Hard water can lower pesticide availability
- High pH can lower pesticide stability
What is a water conditioner?
A water conditioner is a chemical that can be added to the spray tank to alleviate the problems caused by hard water and high pH.
Water conditioners do not directly enhance the performance of a pesticide, but optimise spray water quality so they remain stable and active in the tank, and can perform as intended in the field.
For a water conditioner to work effectively, add it to the spray water before adding your pesticides. It will isolate the problematic cations that cause hard water, and adjust the pH preventing alkaline hydrolysis.
It will get to work immediately, so with good agitation, you won’t need to wait too long to continue filling.
How Water Conditioners help
Sequester hard water cations, preventing pesticide lock-up
Water conditioners eliminate the problems caused by hard water by sequestering hard water cations so they cannot bind to the agrochemicals added to the water.
The cations that make water hard are still present in the water, but because they are locked-up by the anions of the water conditioner, they are “isolated” from being problematic. The agrochemical remains freely available as if it were in soft water, so it can be fully absorbed into plants / pests to do its job.
Lower / buffer pH, stabilising pesticide products in the tank
Water conditioners lower water pH, through acidifying / buffering which prevents alkaline hydrolysis – pesticide breakdown at high pH.
As many pesticides are susceptible and the extent of breakdown depends on pH, using a water conditioner that buffers pH to a pre-determined level is a good idea. This way you can create the pH that is most stable for your spray mixture so it remains stable and active in the spray tank, and can perform to its maximum potential in the field.
Why must Water Conditioners be added to the water first?
Because water conditioners are sacrificial to alleviate the problems of hard water and high pH. They must sequester the hard water cations to “isolate” them and correct pH to prevent alkaline hydrolysis, before you add your agrochemicals. Adding a water conditioner afterwards is too late. Once your agrochemical is locked up / broken down, it cannot be reversed and your product cannot be taken up by plants.
There are 4 main types of Water Conditioner
They will include either a competitive-salting agent or cation-complexing agent to alleviate the effects of water hardness, and either an acidifying agent or buffering agent to correct pH.
Competitive-salting agent
Competes against hard water salts
Competes against dissolved hard water salts so they cannot lock-up the pesticide. They will never out-complete all cations so some lock-up may still occur.
Cation-complexing agent
Isolates dissolved hard water salts
Isolates dissolved hard water salts so they cannot lock-up the pesticide. This is the most effective means of correcting hard water.
Acidifying agent
Lowers pH
Acidifying agents reduce pH – the more you add, the more the pH will reduce. However, the spray water will be prone to pH change as products get added.
Buffering agent
Lowers & holds to set pH
Buffering agents stabilise a spray solution at a pre-determined pH and keep it at that level, offering a more stable environment for a multi-way tank-mix.
Selecting a Water Conditioner
Ultimately, there are many water conditioners on the market. You will need to select the one most suitable for your circumstances. Those containing a buffering agent and a cation-complexing agent will be the most effective when it comes to solving a hard water and high pH problem.
Our water conditioners help maximise pesticide effectiveness
We have a wide range of water conditioners to help you get the most from your pesticide applications:
Our water conditioners contain a cation-complexing agent and buffering agent to give you the best results.
These are available to purchase through Agrii in the UK.
Looking for adjuvant benefits too?
If you don't have hard water but still need to buffer pH, an adjuvant with buffering properties is a good alternative and will give you adjuvant benefits.
They’re not all muck and mystery! Master tank mix adjuvants and you’ll be able to select the right ones so you can push your pesticide performance to the max.
Learn more