Relationship between Electrical Conductivity (EC - S/cm), salinity concentration, chloride

concentration and Practical Salinity Units

EC
Salinity Salinity
Cl
@25C ppt or ppm or ppm or
g/l
mg/l
mg/l
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
2200
2400
2600
2800
3000
3200
3400
3600
3800
4000
4200
4400
4600
4800

0.05
0.10
0.14
0.19
0.24
0.29
0.34
0.39
0.44
0.49
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.91
1.02
1.12
1.23
1.34
1.45
1.56
1.67
1.78
1.89
2.00
2.11
2.23
2.34
2.45
2.56

51
97
144
193
241
291
341
391
442
493
596
699
804
910
1016
1123
1231
1339
1448
1558
1668
1778
1889
2001
2113
2225
2338
2451
2565

31
59
88
117
147
177
207
237
268
299
362
425
488
552
617
682
747
813
879
946
1012
1080
1147
1215
1283
1351
1419
1488
1557

PSU

EC
Salinity Salinity
Cl
@25C ppt or ppm or ppm or
g/l
mg/l
mg/l

PSU

0.07
0.12
0.17
0.22
0.27
0.32
0.37
0.42
0.47
0.52
0.61
0.71
0.81
0.90
1.00
1.10
1.19
1.29
1.38
1.48
1.57
1.67
1.76
1.85
1.95
2.04
2.13
2.23
2.32

5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
22000
24000
26000
28000
30000
32000
34000
36000
38000
40000
42000
44000
46000
48000
50000
52000
54000

2.41
2.88
3.33
3.79
4.24
4.69
5.57
6.44
7.31
8.15
8.99
9.82
10.64
11.45
12.25
13.04
13.82
14.60
15.37
16.13
16.88
17.63
18.37
19.10
19.83
20.56
21.27
21.99

2.68
3.25
3.84
4.43
5.02
5.62
6.85
8.09
9.35
10.62
11.91
13.22
14.53
15.86
17.21
18.56
19.93
21.31
22.70
24.10
25.51
26.93
28.36
29.81
31.26
32.72
34.19
35.68

2678
3253
3836
4426
5022
5625
6846
8087
9345
10621
11911
13215
14534
15865
17208
18564
19931
21309
22699
24099
25510
26932
28364
29806
31259
32722
34195
35678

1626
1975
2328
2687
3049
3414
4155
4909
5673
6447
7230
8022
8822
9630
10446
11268
12098
12935
13778
14629
15485
16348
17217
18093
18975
19863
20757
21657

NB There is no direct conversion between many of these units.

The above information is a guide only and where relationships between values have been
established, they are specific to Hickling Broad water quality data only

Relationship between Electrical Conductivity (EC - S/cm), salinity concentration, chloride

concentration and Practical Salinity Units
Background Information
1. EC is the specific conductivity in microsiemens/cm.
2. PSU values given above have been calculated using the equation below. If specific conductance
values have been compensated to 25 C and water depths are sufficiently shallow making pressure
corrections unnecessary, salinity can be calculated from specific conductance values using standard
equations. Schemel (2001), following principles of the 1978 Practical Salinity Scale, simplified the
general equation for salinity described by Lewis (1980) for the case of a single temperature (25 C)
and atmospheric pressure (760 mm):
Salinity=0.012+(0.2174*((SC/1000)/53.087)^0.5)+(25.3283*((SC/1000)/53.087)^1)+(13.7714*((SC/100
0)/53.087)^1.5)+(-6.4788*((SC/1000)/53.087)^2)+(2.5842*((SC/1000)/53.087)^2.5)
Only use this equation if you have SPECIFIC conductivity compensated to 25 degrees C. For a
complete reference see page 36 of (no www) pubs.usgs.gov/tm/2006/tm1D3/pdf/TM1D3.pdfC
3. The practical salinity unit (PSU) values are unitless, and approximately equal to parts per thousand.
4. Salinity refers to the mass of salt (dissolved ions) in a given mass of water
Molecular mass NaCl
Na = 22.95
Cl = 35.45
NaCl = 58.4

Hickling specific relationship between Cl and conductivity

Conductivity = Chloride / 0.2903

Hickling Broad water quality data supplied by the Environment Agency.

5. Further information
http://www.salinometry.com/
http://www.seawatersolutions.com/

Relationship between Electrical Conductivity (EC - S/cm), salinity concentration, chloride

concentration and Practical Salinity Units

Dan Hoare, Broads Authority - 15th October 2010

Relationship between Electrical Conductivity (EC - S/cm), salinity concentration, chloride

concentration and Practical Salinity Units

er thousand.

Relationship between Electrical Conductivity (EC - S/cm), salinity concentration, chloride

concentration and Practical Salinity Units