User-friendly carbonate chemistry charts

Acid and base addition is commonly practiced in drinking water treatment. T hese chemicals are used primarily to control pH and alkalinity of water in order to enhance treatment performance and reliability. The acid or base do se required to cause a predetermined change in pH is primarily influenced b y the starting pH and alkalinity of the water, Calculating the exact acid o r base dose needed to cause a specific shift in pH requires knowledge of th e basic chemical reactions involved and the mathematical principles that de scribe them. This article provides an introduction to and validation of use r-friendly charts that can be used to answer questions of acid or base addi tion, as well as the corresponding pH and alkalinity changes. The charts pr esented do not require any knowledge of the background chemical reactions o r their mathematical representations.