INDEX precipitates

Calcium Carbonate Protective Scale. The LangeHer saturation index (LSI) is a useful tool for predicting the tendency of a water to deposit or dissolve calcium carbonate. Work pubHshed in 1936 deals with the conditions at which a water is in equiHbrium with calcium carbonate. An equation developed by LangeHer makes it possible to predict the tendency of calcium carbonate either to precipitate or to dissolve under varying conditions. The equation expresses the relationship of pH, calcium, total alkalinity, dissolved soHds, and temperature as they relate to the solubiHty of calcium carbonate in waters with a pH of 6.5—9.5 ... 

The LSI measures only the directional tendency or driving force for calcium carbonate to precipitate or dissolve. It caimot be used as a quantitative measure. Two different waters, one of low hardness (corrosive) and the other of high hardness (scale-forrning), can have the same saturation index. 

Although the Langelier index is probably the most frequently quoted measure of a water s corrosivity, it is at best a not very reliable guide. All that the index can do, and all that its author claimed for it is to provide an indication of a water s thermodynamic tendency to precipitate calcium carbonate. It cannot indicate if sufficient material will be deposited to completely cover all exposed metal surfaces consequently a very soft water can have a strongly positive index but still be corrosive. Similarly the index cannot take into account if the precipitate will be in the appropriate physical form, i.e. a semi-amorphous egg-shell like deposit that spreads uniformly over all the exposed surfaces rather than forming isolated crystals at a limited number of nucleation sites. The egg-shell type of deposit has been shown to be associated with the presence of organic material which affects the growth mechanism of the calcium carbonate crystals . Where a substantial and stable deposit is produced on a metal surface, this is an effective anticorrosion barrier and forms the basis of a chemical treatment to protect water pipes . However, the conditions required for such a process are not likely to arise with any natural waters. 

Ikegami Imai (1962) made a study of precipitation and hydration using turbidity, conductance, refractive index and viscosity measurements. The following account is based on their description. 

The dependency of rate of precipitation of barite from aqueous solution on time at room temperature studied by Nielsen (1958) suggests that the precipitation of barite from solutions of high levels of supersaturation (i.e., more than 30 as saturation index (S.I.) which is defined as the ratio, where A sp is the solubility... 

Water hardness in milligrams per liter of total Ca and Mg is considered soft at 0 to 17 mg/L, moderately hard at 60 to 120 mg/L, and very hard at > 180 mg/L. The Langelier saturation index, a measure of CaCOs solubility, should be < 0 in the retentate to prevent precipitation Pure Water Handbook, Osmonics, 1997). 

One expression of the combined influence of both precipitation and temperature is the de Martonne aridity index based on the formula... 

Where the aridity index (Ia) is equal to the mean annual precipitation in mm (Pmm) divided by the mean annual temperature in °C plus 10. According to this index, values below 5 characterize true deserts, values of approximately 10 define dry steppes, values of about 20 represent prairies, and values above 30 typify forest. 

Thus, the Martonne aridity index defines not only climatic parameters but also vegetational ones. Seasonality of precipitation is another climatic factor that affects desert and steppe boundaries. For a given mean annual temperature, the boundary of a steppe will extend into wetter climates if its precipitation falls mainly in the summer. This is because summer evapotranspiration depletes soil moisture more thoroughly than winter evapotranspiration. For similar reasons, the size of a desert will be larger if its precipitation falls in the summer rather than in the winter (Monger et al., 2004). 

An aridity definition that takes account of the relation precipitation/potential evaporation is the Aridity Index used in the Atlas of Desertification (UNEP, 1993). Four different degrees of aridity can be recognized. These are best defined using the Aridity Index (AI), calculated as the ratio P/PET, where P stands for precipitation and PET for (potential) evapotranspiration. AI values of <1.0 indicate an average annual moisture deficit. According to this criterion, four subzones can be discussed ... 

Fig. 6-6. The evolution of the lagoon s waters in response to oscillations in biological productivity. The results show the adjustment of the system from an initial composition equal to that of seawater. This figure shows dissolved carbon species, the saturation index, and the precipitation rate.

Figure 8-2 shows the depth profiles of the saturation index omegadel), the solution rate, and the respiration rate. At the shallowest depths, the saturation index changes rapidly from its supersaturated value at the sediment-water interface, corresponding to seawater values of total dissolved carbon and alkalinity, to undersaturation in the top layer of sediment. Corresponding to this change in the saturation index is a rapid and unresolved variation in the dissolution rate. Calcium carbonate is precipitating... 

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