Evaluation of ionic strength and salinity of groundwaters: effect of the ionic composition

Abstract An improved method has been used for rapid determination of the ionic strength ( I ) and the salinity of Apulian groundwaters. The parameters required are the electrolytic conductivity ( EC ) and the total solute concentration (C T ) of the solutions. A simple empirical relation between I , EC and C T is presented. The relation holds over a wide concentration and composition range. The combined use of C T and of the ratio I C T is shown to be effective in defining the salinity of groundwaters.