Water Chemistry

Stable Isotopes
• Stable isotopes are those that do not undergo any
natural radioactive decay process.
• Stable isotope studies are based on the tendency of
some pairs of isotopes to fractionate, or separate into
light and heavy fractions. This fractionation occurs
during some geologic process, such as evaporation or
heating.
• The five elements that are used in stable isotope
studies are able to fractionate readily, are fairly
common, have a relatively large difference in mass
between the two isotopes, and have one isotope that is
much more abundant than the other.
• Important isotope ratios include 18O/16O and
2H/1H. These isotopic ratios from an environmental
water sample can be compared with the isotopic
ratio of standard mean ocean water (SMOW).
• During phase changes of water between liquid and
gas, the heavier water molecules tend to
concentrate in the liquid phase, which fractionates
the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes.
• Stable carbon isotopes are 12C and 13C, with 13C
being relatively rare.
Radioactive Isotopes Used for
Age Dating
• Ground-water ages can be estimated using the ratio of 3H to 3He,
which can provide information about the recharge rate to the aquifer,
the horizontal groundwater velocity, the date when contamination first
reached the water table, and the location of the contaminant source.
• Radiocarbon dating methods can be applied to obtain the age of ground
water. Carbon exists in several naturally occurring isotopes, 12C, 13C,
and 14C. Carbon 14 is formed in the atmosphere by the bombardment of
14N by cosmic radiation.
• Tritium, 3H, is an unstable isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of 12.3
years. Tritium in the atmosphere is typically in the form of the molecule
H3HO and enters the ground water as recharging precipitation.
Daerah Resapan Lapangan Panas
Bumi Wayang-Windu Berdasarkan
Isotop 18O dan 2H Fluida
Lokasi Pengambilan Sampel

Sumber : Hutasoit dan Hendrasto. (2005)

Lokasi stasiun curah hujan

Sumber : Hutasoit dan Hendrasto. (2005)

Lokasi Mata air dan Fumarol

Sumber : Hutasoit dan Hendrasto. (2005)

Lokasi Sumur produksi

Sumber : Hutasoit dan Hendrasto. (2005)

Perbandingan Air meteorik sampel – Air meteorik
global

Sumber : Hutasoit dan Hendrasto. (2005)

Hubungan Isotop 18O Dan 2H Air
Meteorik Lokal, Mataair Panas,
Sumur Produksi Dan Fumarol.
Hubungan Isotop Air Hujan
terhadap Elevasi
Grafik Untuk Memperkiran
Elevasi Daerah Resapan
Model Hidrogeologi Panas Bumi
Wayang-Windu
• Prior to 1953, rainwater had less than 10 tritium units
(TU). Starting in 1953, the manufacturing and testing of
nuclear weapons has increased the amount of tritium in
the atmosphere, with a resulting increase in tritium in
the ground water.
• Chlorine 36 has been proposed as a method to date
ground water that is older than water that can be dated
with carbon 14 as it has a half-life of 3.01 x 10^5 years.
A ratio of 36Cl to total Cl is determined; the higher the
ratio, the younger the sample.
• Other isotopes with possible uses in age dating are
85Kr and 39Ar, both of which are produced in the
atmosphere by cosmic radiation.
Major Ion Chemistry
• More than 90% of the dissolved solids in ground water can
be attributed to eight ions: Na+, Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, SO42-,
Cl-, HCO3-, and CO32-.
• These ions are usually present at concentrations greater
than 1 mg/L. Silica, SiO2, a nonionic species, is also
typically present at concentrations greater than 1 mg/L.
• Direct analysis can be done for the first six ions.
Bicarbonate and carbonate concentrations are found by
titrating the sample with acid to an endpoint with a pH of
about 4.4. This is reported as total alkalinity.
Piper Diagram
• A Piper diagram is a graphical representation of the
chemistry of a water sample or samples.
• The diagram consists of two ternary plots, one for cations
and one for anions, and a diamond plot in the middle that
represents the composition of water with respect to both
cations and anions.
• Each apex of a triangle in the ternary plots represents a
100% concentration of one of the three constituents. If a
sample has two constituent groups present, then the point
representing the percentage of each would be plotted on
the line between the apexes for those two groups.
• If all three constituent groups are present, the
analyses would fall in the interior of the field.
• The positions of these points are projected onto the
diamond-shaped field and the intersection of the
projected lines is plotted.
• Piper diagrams are commonly used in water-
chemistry studies to visualize the chemical
changes that take place as the water flows from
one area to another.
Stiff Pattern
• The Stiff Pattern is a type of graphical presentation
of chemical analyses, which was introduced by Stiff
in 1951.
• In a Stiff Pattern, a polygonal shape is created from
four parallel horizontal axes extending on either
side of a vertical zero axis. Cations are plotted in
milliequivalents per liter on the left of the zero axis,
and anions are plotted on the right.
• The use of the lower horizontal bar with iron and
carbonate is optional as in many waters they are
close to zero.
• Stiff patterns are useful in making a rapid visual
comparison between water from different sources.
The larger the area of the polygonal shape, the
greater the concentrations of the various ions.
• Stiff patterns can be used to represent the varying
groundwater chemistry in an area containing
mineralized water from a waste-disposal operation.
Solid lines represent isocons of total dissolved
solids. Stiff patterns are centered over locations of
wells.
• As water travels down the flow path, it increases in
total dissolved solids. All ions except bicarbonate
show a progressive increase along the flow path.
Schoeller Semilogarithmic
Diagram
• The Schoeller Semilogarithmic Diagram is a type of
graphical presentation used to plot the
concentrations of anions and cations.
• The concentrations are plotted in milliequivalents
per liter (meq/L).
• This type of diagram allows for a visual comparison
of the compositions of different waters.