Alkalinity and pH
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| Now that I live in a sanctuary surrounded by two rivers that surround our village on three sides, I can finally finish the book the water of life I had started. We are reminded every day the importance of water and what it means to drink the water as it gushes from the mountain top. In our village we have a water collection system that serves 70 small houses and this water is conditioned, it will not do any treatment. |
| There is one thing I’ve discovered in our water that we drink that made me learn an important lesson regarding alkalinity and pH. I have tested our water and to my surprise it was slightly sour, but adding a pinch of baking soda in about 2 means the water they turned into a strongly alkaline water. There is some confusion between alkalinity and pH. It seems that is not enough drinking water with high pH. Even the alkalinity must be high along with the pH so as to obtain an important medical benefit. |
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Alkalinity is important because it protects us with his
System buffer against rapid changes in pH
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| The alkalinity and pH are related with one another in a way that is obvious, but also in a very subtle way. The idea that the alkalinity is separated from the pH (which coincidentally is called acid or alkaline) is a myth because the pH and alkalinity are two measurable parameters in a different way in the water. Although the pH can be very high, we find that little mineralized water has little ability to neutralize acids in the stomach and then start the production of bicarbonate in the blood stream |
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The alkalinity is a measure of the buffering capacity of the water – the ability to withstand sudden changes in pH. The pH is the measure of the acidity or basicity of the water
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| The alkalinity is the ability of water to resist changes in pH acts to make the water more acidic. This capability is commonly known as “buffering capacity”. For example, if we add the same solution of a weak acid in two samples of water both with a pH of 7, but one without buffering capacity (eg zero alkalinity) and the other with buffering capacity (eg an alkalinity of 50 mg / liter ) the pH of the water with zero alkalinity decrease immediately with water while the pH buffering capacity will change very little if anything. |
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The pH simply expresses the degree of concentration of hydrogen ions. Means that the alkaline pH is greater than 7. Alkalinity is the true measure of the ability to neutralize the acidity that includes the bicarbonate (HCO3–), carbonato (CO3=) and idrossidrile (OH–). It is measured in mg/lt o ppm di CaCO3.
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| The natural alkalinity of the water is determined by the soil and from the rocky bed through which the water passes. The largest source of natural alkalinity are rocks that contain carbonates, bicarbonates and hydroxyl compounds. Even borates, silicates, phosphates and contribute to alkalinity. The limestone and rich in carbonates, so the water that passes through regions rich in limestone beds or minerals containing carbonates, generally assumes a high alkalinity and therefore, a good buffering capacity. Contrary areas containing rocks such as granites and conglomerates of silicon, will have low alkalinity and consequently a reduced buffer capacity. |
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A pH below 6. 5 may contribute to corrosion of pipes and equipment, and certainly if the acidic water can do this, you can just imagine what it can do inside the human body
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| The pH level of the drinking water is measured as a function of how acidic or basic pH is related to the concentration of hydrogen ions of water; pH means “potential hydrogen.” Alkalinity measures the ability of water to neutralize acids. Measure the presence of carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide), bicarbonates, carbonates and hydroxyl ions that are naturally present in the water. A normal pH level for drinking water, carbonates bicarbonates are the substances that contribute most to the alkalinity. As we can see in the chart below, the higher the CO2 concentration increased the alkalinity of the water at a given pH value. ? As we can see in the graph below the higher the CO2 the blackberries alkaline the water at a Given pH. |
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| In the chemistry of natural water, there are different types of alkalinity that we can meet. Each of these is a measure of how much acid (H +) is required to lower the pH to a specific level. The reason for which the maintenance of aquariums measure the alkalinity is that normal sea water, most of the alkalinity is due to the presence of carbonates and bicarbonates. Consequently, the alkalinity is an index of adequate amounts of water bicarbonates. Sodium bicarbonate is the main buffer in our blood. |
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The alkalinity supplied by sources external to the body, drinking alkaline water, results in a net increase in alkalinity of our body.
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| The main chemical elements that contribute to the alkalinity of seawater are bicarbonate and carbonate. The table below (taken from “Chemical Oceanography” by Frank Millero, 1996), shows the contribution to alkalinity from major chemical elements for sea water at pH 8. |
| Chemical element |
Relative contribution to the alkalinity |
| HCO3– (bicarbonate) |
89.8 |
| CO3– (carbonate) |
6.7 |
| B(OH)4–(borati) |
2.9 |
| SiO(OH)3– (silicati) |
0.2 |
| MgOH+(magnesium monohydroxylated) |
0.1 |
| OH–(hydroxyl) |
0.1 |
| HPO4–and PO4—(phosphates) |
0.1 |
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| The carbon monoxide to a specific solubility in water as carbonic acid (H2CO3). For a given value of pH exists a mathematical relationship between the exact carbonic acid H2CO3 and both bicarbonates and carbonates. For example, at a pH of about 9. 3 in fresh water space (about 8. Seawater 4) the concentration of carbonate and 100 times higher than that of carbonic acid. A higher pH value increases this multiplication, and so consequently there are higher concentrations of bicarbonate and carbonate present. |
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The alkalinity increases rapidly with the increase of pH. This becomes particularly true with a pH greater than 8 in seawater, where the concentration of carbonate sale appreciable.
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The theoretical relationship between alkalinity of the carbonates and the pH for the seawater (blue) and fresh water (red) equilibrated to atmospheric pressure (350 ppm of carbon dioxide)
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| A high alkalinity or implies adequate amounts of bicarbonate, while a low alkalinity indicates a low value of this. The bicarbonate water is the healthiest water to drink, and this is shown very clearly in my book Sodium Bicarbonate. Becomes critical to see that alkalinity does not depend in a narrow pH. There is a relationship between the two, however, the pH measures the degree of alkalinity as not the amount of alkalinity. And as say for example the relationship between the heat and the temperature. For example, you have a paper clip heated to 10,000 ° but will not be able to heat the house in the least when compared to a heater that blows air at 30 °. |
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The alkalinity measures the concentration of bicarbonates, carbonates, and ions idrossidrile and is expressed as the equivalent concentration of calcium carbonate(CaCO3).
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| Ionizers alkaline not always provide water with capacity to neutralize the acids significantly. The promoters of the alkaline ionizers compare the ability to neutralize the acids with the other pH value. As mentioned above we have seen that the alkalinity which neutralizes acids and not just the pH level. In other words, we can have high levels of pH and low alkalinity and low pH levels and high levels of alkalinity (eg sparkling mineral water). If there is even only a small amount of alkaline elements (which are part of the first two columns of the periodic table) an ionizer will be able to generate a low amount of alkalinity to neutralize the acids, but that the pH will be measured with high values from 8. 5 to 10. 5. |
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The presence of calcium carbonate or other compounds such as magnesium carbonate contribute to give carbonate ions in the buffer system.
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| People who live in poor areas of minerals, (many of the city aqueducts and wells) think they can acquire a good dose of alkalinity of their ionizers when it would actually benefit more by taking a half teaspoon of baking soda to coffee or a glass of water calcium bicarbonate. Therefore we suggest to many people that use ionizers to add sodium bicarbonate to your water if you want to have a significant salutary effect. |
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“ Alkaline water “is not the same thing as” water with alkalinity. “For this reason the water with a pH 6. 3 (example effervescent natural mineral water) can have 100 times more capacity to neutralize acids (alkalinity) of alkaline water with a pH of 9. 5 produced by a water ionizer alkaline. (Robert Slovak)
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| The limitation of ionizers is simply due to the chemical composition of ‘water used determines that the benefits in terms of alkalinity capable of neutralizing the acidic (pH not!) And the negative ORP (active hydrogen). The quality of our water source should be the decisive factor in making us decide the type of filters and ionizer to choose from. |
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Water Ionizers
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| Many professionals promote the idea that the alkaline pH in a significant ability to neutralize acids, but this is not always correct. There are good reasons to suggest to all those who have water ionizers, add it alkalinity (bicarbonate), if the mineral content of their water and low. When the source of water and low in minerals space (most of the public waters are poor minerals, especially magnesium and bicarbonates) the remineralizzatone becomes critical. |
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conclusions
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Alkaline solutions, with pH of about 8. 5 have demonstrated with certainty to increase the antioxidant effect in a greater than 60% in relation to the same solution tested biologically to a pH of 7. 4.
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| Sang Whang, one of the greatest experts in the world on the causes of aging reminds us that, “the ingredients of the stomach cells that produce hydrochloric acid (HCl) are carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O) sodium chloride (NaCl) or potassium chloride(KCl)”. |
| NaCl + H2O + CO2 = HCl + NaHCO3, and KCl + H2O + CO2 = HCl + KHCO3 |
| The Dr. Wang says, “in order to digest food and kill bacteria and viruses that are ingested with the food itself, the cavity of our stomach is acidic. The pH value inside the stomach is maintained at a value of about 4. When we eat food and drink water, especially alkaline water, the pH of the stomach tends to rise. When this happens, there is a feedback mechanism in the stomach that perceives this change and as a result controls the walls of the stomach to secrete hydrochloric acid inside the stomach itself to bring the pH to a value of 4. In this way the stomach returns to be acid. When we drink alkaline water, a greater quantity of hydrochloric acid is secreted to restore the pH value. |
| As we can notice to the chemical equation described above, the co-produced that is obtained from the production of hydrochloric acid is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) or potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3). In response to the ingestion of sodium bicarbonate or water with a high alkaline pH, stimulates the production of hydrochloric acid as the pH lowering his stomach responds to the level of normal acidity within the gastric cavity. In taking larger amounts of alkaline liquids we force our stomach to produce more acid, but also force it to produce greater quantities of bicarbonates. The conclusion from this is that we would have a net gain of alkalinity that comes to our body and this is extremely important and of great help in maintaining the acid-base balance of the body. |
