| through violent mergers, studying the co-moving density of OH maser galaxies across cosmic time will allow the merger rate of the Universe to be determined in an independent and unbiased way. The merger rate is an important parameter in galaxy formation and evolution scenarios. The sensitivity, wide field of view and spectral coverage of Apertif on the WSRT will allow for the first time an all-sky blind survey for OH maser galaxies to be carried out to redshift 1. I will summarise the prospects for such a survey, including the expected number of OH maser galaxies that will be discovered, and what limits can be placed on the OH maser luminosity function, and hence the merger rate, out to redshift 1 with various survey strategies.
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