The importance of calcium and alkalinity is well recognised. However the
reasons why they are important, what levels are desirable and how to achieve
such levels often is not.
What is alkalinity?
Alkalinity is simply the water's ability to maintain its pH (from dropping).
What is pH?
pH is just a measure of the number of free hydrogen ions (protons) in the water.
What is an ion?
An ion is an atom or group of atoms that have either gained (therefore they are negatively charged since atoms always have no net charge), or lost one or more electrons. A negatively charged ion is called an anion and a positvely charged ion is called a cation.
What chemicals go to make up alkalinity?
A number of negatively charged ions go through an equilbrium equation