BiCarb

[Warthaug]

My city has a pretty comprehensive water report (link; PDF), and the list in detail nearly every ion, organic and toxin I could ever want to know about...except bicarb.

I was wondering, given the info in the tables, if there was a way to calculate the bicarb (say from hardness + pH)?

Any help is appreciated.

Bryan

 

[ajdelange]

You can calculate it from the alkalinity and the pH but you must know the defining end point titration for the alkalinity determination. As long as the pH of the sample is less than about 8.6 you can approximate bicarbonate quite accurately by dividing the alkalinity (must be in units of ppm as CaCO3) by 50 and multiplying the result by 61. This gives bicarb in mg/L.