Summary
It has been stressed that a pH-value alone provides a poor characterization of the acid properties of natural waters.
The necessary information is usually obtained if the contribution to the hydrogen ion concentration from different chemical individuals and their identities are established. Two types of natural waters have been discussed. The first one consists of the water soluble part of airborne particles and precipitation. These natural waters, when in internal and external equilibrium, may in many cases be described by the phase diagram for the system H2SO4-H2O-NH3-HNO3. This diagram is discussed.
The other type consists of lake waters. Their acidic properties may be described by the total concentration of carbonic acid, strong base, weak organic acids and strong (anthropogenic) acid. Possible methods to determine these concentrations are presented.
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© 1983 ECSC, EEC, EAEC, Brussels and Luxembourg
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Brosset, C. (1983). Characterization of Acidity in Natural Waters. In: Beilke, S., Elshout, A.J. (eds) Acid Deposition. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7139-4_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7139-4_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-009-7141-7
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