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Advanced water chemistry questions

SludgeMunkey

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I am having some issues with some terms and concepts of advanced water chemistry.

Here is what I could use some help/advice with:

GH- I understand this is General hardness but how does this compare to what I know as "Total Hardness"? Also is there a conversion formula to convert total hardness to GH?

KH- This is what I know as carbonate hardness, correct? why are different scales of measurement used? (ppm for carbonate hardness, dH for KH) Is there a conversion formula for this one as well?

mS- I keep stumbling upon a measurement of "mS" in various literature, books and websites. IS this magnesium sulfates? This is a term I am completely lost on.

And finally, would the addition of dolomite to the limestone in my water treatment process for Middle Eastern Newts be sufficient to add various magnesium compounds to the water? For some reason our water here tests completely free of any magnesium compounds.
 

oceanblue

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General Hardness is the same as Total Hardness. Carbonate hardness is for practical purposes the same as temporary hardness or alkalinity.

Both hardnesses can be quantified in numerous ways and there is a plethora of scales and units which are quite intimidating and difficult to understand.

The Hagen test kit I use gives answers to both in mg/L (ppm) CaCO3 and gives the following conversion factors to other degrees (I cannot find the little circle symbol so I spell out degrees!)

Multiply mg/L CaCO3 by...
x 0.056 = dH degrees or gH degrees
x 0.07 = Clark H degrees
x 0.1 = fH degrees
x1 = hardness degrees
x0.02 = mEq/L

mS/M is millisiemens per metre a measure of the conductivity of the water and this correlates with ions present. If you feed "mS/M ground water development" into Google books the limited preview of the first book, a handbook of ground water development may be helpful and you could always get the book if you need more information.

I don't know if adding dolomite to your water treatment system will make much difference. I would think magnesium sulphate may be easier to get a controlled level of supplementation.
 

SludgeMunkey

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Brilliant! Thank you for the information! One of the horrible limitations of internet searches is the inability to search abbreviations effectively! Thank you for clarifying what has been a frustrating couple of days worth of reading very dry data.!
 

Lugubris

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Adding Dolomite to a tank would increase the magnesium levels but it would be a very slow leaching process, so it would be hard to determine exactly how much to use. Many minerals should not be added to a tank if they leach minerals, but if it is magnesium you are looking for, it would be a viable option. Just make sure you keep a close eye on the pH.
 
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