Drinking Water and Health. Safe Drinking Water Committee. Bicarbonate is the ion normally responsible for alkalinity, or the capacity of water to neutralize acids. Bicarbonate is a natural corrosion inhibitor in soft water systems. Evaluation of alkalinity as a health based standard in drinking water is difficult because the character of alkalinity may vary due to pH, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfates, and total solids.
Sodium is a very soluble and natural ingredient of water.
Its occurrence is widespread, especially in the and southwest. Although the sodium concentration in CAP water may exceed that of Tucson groundwater, drinking a gallon of CAP water a day represents less than 10 percent of the average dietary intake of sodium per day. This would be equivalent to drinking about 30 gallons of CAP water over that same period. Sulfate , like sodium, is a very soluble and natural ingredient of water. The occurrence of sulfate is also widespread, especially in the arid southwest.