Re: conductivity= water quality explained

[Brian Ahmer <ahmer.1@osu.edu>]

hey nice post on conductivity.  I just have one question, I think you 
made a boo-boo in one sentence.  Correct me if I'm wrong...


>  KH is a measure of
> carbonate hardness. It relates to the ability of the
> system to maintain equilibrium of Carbon. A low KH
> means lots of Carbonic acid in the system and thus a
> tendency to have a low pH and the opposite is true of
> a high KH.


I interpret your sentence "A low KH means lots of carbonic acid..." 
to mean that KH is measuring where the carbonates are in the 
equilibrium (for instance at the acidic pH they'll all be carbonic 
acid, so low KH).   Instead, I think KH measures total carbonates 
contributing to the equilibrium.  Doesn't matter whether they're all 
in the carbonic acid form or the basic form.  The total amount tells 
you how much buffering capacity you have.
--

Brian Ahmer
ahmer.1@osu.edu
http://www.angelfire.com/or/biggestbri


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