Irrigation water quality for sodium, chloride, bicarbonate and boron ions

Dear all,

I am referring to irrigation water qualities wherein the primary source of water is treated sewage from sewage treatment plants.  The national regulations of this particular country (cannot disclose) uses the term 'me/l' for Sodium and Chloride.

I was wondering what it could be? I thought it is milli equivalent/litre, but the prescribed values for Na & Cl do not match any way near to expected concentration from general STPs.

Any idea what could this term mean, 'me/l'?  They have clubbed it with Sodium Adsorption Ratio, which is a dimensionless number.

Best Regards

Anvar Mansuri

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7 Answers

1. mg/l ,that may be typing error ⚠️

2. Contamination levels are measured in terms of mg/l (miligram per litre), mg is equal to 1 part per million.  The average chloride is 745.25 ppm which is believed to be three times MPCA standard of 230 mg/l.  The concentration is dependent on the pH and even electrical conductivity which may please be checked.  There are correlations among alkaline salts.

    

3. Hello Anvar, I recommend to check the Electrical conductivity of the water if the value is high above 2 dS/m that mean that there is high salt concentration in the water.

4. Hi Anvar,

   Attached extracts from a UN document which should answer your questions. The books a bit old, but I don't think that the fundamentals of chemistry have changed.

5. Hi Anvar,

   I am unsure of the units in your document.

   Below are Australian guidelines for sodium and chloride.

   source: https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-epa/publications/1911-2

    

   cheers

   

6. Hi Anvar, I think it is milli equivalents per litre.  So for sodium multiply me/l by 23 to get < 69; 69-207, and >207 as mg/l. For chloride multiply by 35.45 to get < 142; 142-355, and > 355 mg/l. 

7. Hi Anvar, could it be a misprint and they meant mg/L?