Palintest Total Alkalinity Test Tablets in a 250 tablet bottle - Total Alkalinity in a range of 0 - 500mg/l What is Total Alkalinity? This is a measure of all the alkaline materials in the pool water. In the pH range found in pool waters, the alkalinity is likely to be present in the form of Sodium Bicarbonate. At the correct level, the pH will not alter rapidly as the water is said to be buffered. If the total alkalinity is below 80 p.p.m. then the water will be insufficiently buffered and if it is above 200 p.p.m it will be excessively buffered. In either case the effect of the addition of chemicals will be difficult to control. Total Alkalinity - 250 Tablets - Add one tablet to sample in a stoppered container. Shake to disintegrate tablet. Repeat until yellow colour changes to bright red. Total Alkalinity can then be calculated as: 50ml sample container = number of tablets added multiplied by 40 then minus 20 to give you your Total Alkalinity reading. i.e. 6 tablets added, so