For years I've been using the rpavlis recipe for my espresso machine. With great success. I would get my ro water from a nearby store and periodically test it. All has been well until I tested a recent batch of 10 gallons.

TDS 31
Total and free chlorine 0
Hardness 1.5 grains / 25ppm
Alkalinity 20
pH 6.8

Question is what to do with this water. Add some Pot Bicarb to help those Alk and pH numbers, get a Zerowater pitcher and run the water though it, use it in my garden and start over.

So far I've added the bicarb and it took the alk to 60 and pH is 7.5. I suppose that's better but not a long term solution as I cannot count on the quality of the ro machine

Sorry for the ramble, but would appreciate any advice on this.

You could run it through a zerowater, but I'd be willing to just use this 31 ppm RO and spike it as you did up to an alkalinity of ~60 ppm. At 31 ppm it shouldn't have enough 'bad' stuff like chloride or silica to make you worry, nor does it have enough calcium to give you any scale issues.

It may pay to take your TDS meter to the store when buying this water. Or look around town to see if anyone might have a self-serve dispenser that gives you a choice between RO and de-ionized.

Thanks Pat. I'll treat the water I have with the bicarb and look for another source. Great idea of taking the TDS meter and check prior to committing to many gallons of water.