Electrical Conductivity Of Sea Water

Water conductivity pure water is not a good conductor of electricity.

Electrical conductivity of sea water. Ions conduct electricity due to their positive and negative charges 1. Sea water on the other hand has a very high conductivity. Ec is relative to temperature. When electrolytes dissolve in water they split into positively charged cation and negatively charged anion particles.

Salinity is normally quoted in units parts per thousand. The electrical conductivity of water increases by 2 3 for an increase of 1 degree celsius of water temperature. Because the electrical current is transported by the ions in solution the conductivity increases as the concentration of ions increases. Ocean waters have water electrical conductivity of about 5 ms tap water has ec in the range of 50 to 800 us depending on the source freshwater streams may fall in the range of 100 to 2000 us and distilled water has ec of between 0 5 and 3 us.

The term specific conductivity is used when a value has been. Because electrical conductivity greatly depends on temperature scientists use the term specific conductivity if the. In many cases conductivity is linked directly to the total dissolved solids t d s. Ocean waters are around 55 ms.

Seawater temperature saturation pressure specific volume specific heat electrical conductivity and absolute viscosity. The electrical conductivity of the water depends on the water temperature. Density calculated for salinity s 35000 mg l. The useful unit for seawater is milimhos cm ms.

The useful unit for freshwater is micromhos cm umhos cm or us. Ordinary distilled water in equilibrium with carbon dioxide of the air has a conductivity of about 10 x 10 6w 1 m 1 20 ds m. High quality deionized water has a conductivity of about 0 5 μs cm at 25 c typical drinking water is in the range of 200 800 μs cm while sea water is about 50 ms cm or 50 000 μs cm. When salts reach high levels in freshwater it can cause problems for aquatic ecosystems and complicated human uses.

Freshwater is usually between 0 and 1 500 us cm and typical sea water has a conductivity value of about 50 000 us cm. The higher the temperature the higher the electrical conductivity would be. For instance the measurement of the electrical conductivity of water is very important for numerous industrial applications like cooling towers and boilers. Different water types need to be measured for different reasons.

While pure water has very low conductivity sea water comes with much higher conductivity. Low levels of salts are found naturally in waterways and are important for plants and animals to grow.