ABSTRACT
There are six main classes of reactions in natural water chemistry. These are: acid/base; complexation; dissolution/precipitation; redox; gas/water partitioning; and adsorption. In addition to playing its obvious role in acid/base reactions, the proton H+ is a direct or indirect participant in reactions of the other types. This chapter provides a table that shows values of acidity constants for acids of interest in natural waters. Many chemistry texts explicitly recognize the strong solvation of H+ by water and argue that as soon as any H+ is formed by a reaction with water.
