Contribution to the study of the conductivity of high purity water

In this work a study is made more particularly of two points: the production of high purity water and the estimation of this purity by means of conductivity measurements. As far as water purification is concerned it is observed that the de-ionisation produced by ion exchange resins in mixed beds leads to a water having a lower conductivity than that obtained by distillation. This low conductivity however, measured at the column exit before the water comes into contact with air is not stable. In fact the carbon dioxide in the water gives rise to an equilibrium with production of the ions HCO3-, CO3--. These ions are retained during the passage of the water through the resins. They reappear again at the column exit as a result of the displacement of the hydration equilibrium of CO2; because of this the conductivity of the water increases with time. The water obtained by successive distillations does not behave in the same way because no carbon dioxide is present. Distillation is however a costly purification process on an industrial scale, especially if large quantities of water have to be treated. The measurement of these low conductivities is very delicate. The method employed makes use of a direct current and gives reproducible results if care is taken to exclude interfering electric fields by screening the apparatus. (author)