Water Terms & Glossary

Commonly Used Water Terms G - L

0 Matches Found. Try generalizing your keywords to broaden your results.

G
GPG Abbreviation for grains per gallon.
GRAIN (gr.) A unit of weight equal to 1/ 7000th of a pound. or 0.0648 gram.
GRAIN PER GALLON (gpg) A common basis for reporting water analyses in the United States and Canada; one grain per U.S. gallon equals 17.12 milligrams per liter (mg/I) or parts per million (ppm). One grain per British (Imperial) gallon equals 14.3 milligrams per liter or parts per million.
GRAM (g) The basic unit of weight (mass) of the metric system, originally intended to be the weight of one cubic centimeter of water at 4?C.
GREENSAND A natural mineral. primarily composed of complex silicates, which possesses ion exchange properties.
H
HARD WATER Water with a total hardness of one grain per gallon or more, as calcium carbonate equivalent.
HARDNESS A characteristic of natural water due to the presence of dissolved calcium and magnesium; water hardness is responsible for most scale formation in pipes and water heaters, and forms insoluble "curd" when it reacts with soaps. Hardness is usually expressed in grains per gallon, parts per million. or milligrams per liter. all as calcium carbonate equivalent.
HARDNESS LEAKAGE The presence of a consistent concentration of hardness in the effluent from an ion exchange water softener, often due to high concentrations of hardness or sodium in the water being treated (see Leakage)..
HEAD A measure of the pressure at a point in a water system; expressed in pounds per square or in the height of a column of water which would produce the pressure.
HEAD LOSS See Pressure Drop.
HYDRAULIC Referring to water or other fluids in motion.
HYDRAULIC CLASSIFICATION A process in which particles of the same specific gravity may be graded according to size by backwashing or other relative upward flow of water; the smallest particles tending to rise to the top of the bed, and the largest particles tending to sink to the bottom, due to variations in weight to surface area ratios.
HYDROGEN ION CONCENTRATION The concentration of hydrogen ions in moles per liter of solution; often expressed as pH (see pH).
HYDROGENCYCLE The cation exchange cycle in which the cation exchanger is regenerated with acid, and cations are removed from the solution treated in exchange for hydrogen ions.
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE The water cycle, including precipitation of water from the atmosphere as rain or snow, flow of water over or through the earth, and evaporation or transpiration to water vapor in the atmosphere. (see Transpiration)
HYDROLYSIS The reaction of a salt with water to form an acid and a base.
HYDROXIDE A chemical compound of an element or elements with the hydroxyl (OH) anion. (See Hydroxyl)
HYDROXYL The chemical group or ion (OH) which is neutral or positively charged.
HYPOCHLORITE The "OCI" anion; calcium and sodium hypochlorites are commonly used as bleaches and disinfecting agents.
I
ION An atom or group of atoms which functions as a unit. and has a positive or negative electrical charge, due to the gain or loss of one or more electrons. (see Ionization)
ION EXCHANGE A reversible process in which ions are released from an insoluble permanent material in exchange for other ions in a surrounding solution; the direction of the exchange depends upon the affinities of the ion exchanger for the ions present. and the concentrations of the ions in the solution. (see Base Exchange)
ION EXCHANGER A permanent, insoluble material which contains ions that will exchange reversibly with other ions in a surrounding solution. Both cation and anion exchangers are used in water conditioning.
IONIZATION The process in which atoms gain or lose electrons and thus become ions with positive or negative charges; sometimes used as a synonym for dissociation, the separation of molecules into charged ions in solution. .
IONIZATION CONSTANT A constant, specific for ~ach partially ionizable chemical compound, to express the ratio of the concentration of ions from the compound to the concentration of un-ionized compound.
IRON An element often found dissolved in ground water (in the form of ferrous iron) in concentrations usually ranging from zero to 10 ppm (mg/I). It is objectionable in water supplies because of the staining caused after oxidation and precipitation (as ferric hydroxide); because of tastes; and because of unsightly colors produced when iron reacts with tannins in beverages such as coffee and tea.
IRON BACTERIA Organisms which are capable of utilizing ferrous iron (either from the water or from steel pipe) in their metabolism and precipitating both ferric hydroxide in their sheaths and gelatinous deposits. These organisms tend to collect in pipe lines and tanks during periods of low flow, and to break loose in slugs of turbid water to create staining, taste, and odor problems.
J
JACKSON TURBIDITY UNIT (JTU) A quantitative unit of turbidity originally based on the comparison of a liquid (such as water) with a suspension of a specific type of silica, using the turbidity measure in a Jackson Candle Turbidimeter.
K
KILO A prefix used to indicate 1000 of the succeeding unit. (Kilo is also sometimes used as an abbreviation for kilogram.)
KILOGRAIN (Kgr) One thousand grains.
KILOGRAM (Kg) One thousand grams.
L
LANGELIER'S INDEX A calculated number used to predict whether or not a water will precipitate, be in equilibrium with, or dissolve calcium carbonate. It is sometimes erroneously assumed that any water which tends to dissolve calcium carbonate is automatically corrosive.
LEAKAGE The amount of contaminant or hardness remaining in water after filtering or other treatment.
LIME The common name for calcium oxide (CaO); hydrated lime is calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2).
LIME SCALE Hard water scale containing a high percentage of calcium carbonate.
LIMESTONE A sedimentary rock, largely calcium carbonate, usually also containing significant amounts of magnesium carbonate.
LITER The basic metric unit of volume; 3. 785 liters equals one U.S. gallon. One liter of water weighs 1000 grams.

The Water Guy has a New Website!

CATEGORIES

BRANDS

HAPPY Customers

Water Terms & Glossary

Commonly Used Water Terms G - L

GPG

GRAIN

GRAIN PER GALLON

GRAM

GREENSAND

HARD WATER

HARDNESS

HARDNESS LEAKAGE

HEAD

HEAD LOSS

HYDRAULIC

HYDRAULIC CLASSIFICATION

HYDROGEN ION CONCENTRATION

HYDROGENCYCLE

HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

HYDROLYSIS

HYDROXIDE

HYDROXYL

HYPOCHLORITE

ION

ION EXCHANGE

ION EXCHANGER

IONIZATION

IONIZATION CONSTANT

IRON

IRON BACTERIA

JACKSON TURBIDITY UNIT (JTU)

KILO

KILOGRAIN (Kgr)

KILOGRAM (Kg)

LANGELIER'S INDEX

LEAKAGE

LIME

LIME SCALE

LIMESTONE

LITER