Ion ratios Sample Clauses

Ion ratios. The ion ratios determine the proportion of each ion that makes up hardness and the charge balance of the water, so Ca:Mg is the ratio of Ca ions to Mg ions (in mol/L). These ratios will vary among water samples depending on watershed geology and various inputs. The default values are median values based on water quality monitoring data from across the United States and Canada. The data used to calculate these values are publicly available. The user may also select values specific to a Canadian ecozone (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995) or province, or US state or ecoregion based on the delineations of the CEC (Commission for Environmental Cooperation 1997). Ecozones and ecoregions are ecologically and geologically similar regions that are groups at various spatial scales. The CEC has three spatial scales, Level I being the broadest and Level III being the finest. Canadian ecozones generally have borders that are the same as or very similar to CEC Level I ecological regions, with a few ecozones corresponding to Level II ecological regions instead. The data for these smaller delineations are the same as for the default North American values.