How Does Soil Affect the PH of Water?
Acidic vs. Alkaline When soil and water meet, their acidity levels interact and combine to influence both. Ultimately, the water drains away and the soil assumes a slightly different acidic content. The acidity of the soil is very important, since how acidic or alkaline a soil is governs what kind of plants can grow there and how easily roots can extract the necessary nutrients to survive. In both water and soil, acidity is measured according to the pH scale, a negative logarithmic scale where values increase times ten per whole digit increase or decrease. The middle of the scale is 7, where the pH level is neutral (like pure water). Higher pH levels indicate alkalinity and lower levels indicate acidity. The pH level is naturally changed by encounters with other materials. In the encounters between water and soil, soil is generally the most changed of the two, while water tends to stay the same or be purified by its encounter, moving closer to a neutral pH level. Interactions with Soil
