Abstract: The effects of Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ in the purified water on the conductivity of zinc electrolyte and the current efficiency of zinc electrolysis were studied by the alternating current bridge method and the simulated electrolysis experiments, and the water quality index of reused water was established. The results show that the conductivity of the solution and the current efficiency decrease as these two kinds of positive ions are added in the electrolyte. The effect of Ca²⁺ is much more remarkable than that of Na⁺. ρ(Na⁺)≤ 8 g/L and ρ(Ca²⁺)≤20 mg/L are the quality indexes in the zinc electrolysis process and the concentrations of Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ in the purified water reused to the process should be less than the limited values, i.e. the water quality index of the purified water should be controlled by its reused amount.

Key words: water quality index; purified water; zinc electrolysis process; alternating current bridge method