What is calcium bicarbonate?

calcium-bicarbonate-abloomnova.net_-1600x1066 What is calcium bicarbonate?

Calcium bicarbonate is a combination of calcium, carbonate and bicarbonate ions dissolved in water with carbon dioxide. It is therefore not naturally occurring, but it appears a lot if rivers, lakes and streams. This is because the water is surrounded by rocks which contain sediments with minerals and metals. And of course the water is exposed to the air.

This water is what is known as “hard water” and although healthy to drink, with higher levels of minerals than some other water, it does cause a build-up on plumbing in kitchens and bathrooms and can be difficult to clean off. If you live in a hard water area, the first place you will see it will be your kettle and dishwasher. It reacts to soap and leaves trace marks, known colloquially as “soap scum”. Despite the high mineral content, many householders install water filters to their homes in order to avoid the problems that come with hard water.

Water with high calcium bicarbonate content is often referred to as “hard water” because of the scale it leaves in pipes and sinks. It also reacts with soap to form “soap scum” in your shower and bathtub. Water filters, such as reverse osmosis systems, filter out minerals and dramatically reduce the calcium bicarbonate content in water. This may be convenient for a clean bathroom, but minerals are essential to your body and they have alkalising properties.

It is separate to calcium carbonate – the common calcium supplement prescribed to patients. Calcium carbonate is found in antacid tablets because of its alkalizing effect on excessive stomach acidity.

Calcium bicarbonate, on the other hand, is used in paper washing, and used to treat works of art or historically valuable documents. These types of solutions are ideal for aged parchment as they neutralise acids on paper and they also leave an alkaline reserve of calcium carbonate on the surface which offers long term protection.

(One other calcium bicarbonate fact – it’s this that forms in caves and creates icicles.)

 

 

Добавить комментарий

abloomnova
This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies.