Abstract: pH is one of the most important parameters characterizing the state of water systems. The arithmetic mean values of samples are often used when averaging serial pH measurements in water bodies, as is usually done for other characteristics of the state of the natural environment (temperature, salinity, oxygen concentrations, suspended solids, etc.). However, in this case such an operation is illegal, since the addition of logarithms, which by definition are pH, is non-additive. The authors conducted a study to determine the extent to which pH variability in natural objects such an operation would not distort the results. For this, several samples of the pH index were generated in various ranges of its theoretically possible and natural variability. It was established that with pH variability of less than a unit characteristic of marine pH values, the statistical characteristics of the indicator and [H+ ] concentrations differ slightly, and the medians of the samples coincide. It is concluded that with such ranges characteristic of the waters of the oceans, there is no need to recalculate previously obtained results. However, for the estuaries of rivers flowing into tidal seas, as shown by field measurements, the pH variability in the mixing zone of sea and river waters is several times higher. Similar situations may occur when heavy precipitation falls on the water surface, as well as during floods. In these cases, a simple averaging of the pH values will no longer be correct. In such cases, the use of other averaging algorithms and the choice of stable statistical characteristics are required.
A Framework for Assessing Water Security and the Water–Energy–Food Nexus—The Case of Finland
