[TowerTalk] Vertical in the swamp

[Carrington, Walter]

Is swamp water conductive?
Fresh water swamps have a lot of stuff suspended or dissolved in the water. The conductivity might be much higher than pure water.  
A quick google:
Great Salt Lake = 158,000 uS/cm
Salt water is about 50,000 microSiemen/cm  (uS/cm)  
Atlantic Ocean = 43000 uS/cm
Drinkable water -- less than 3000 uS/cm  (and you'd prefer <1000 )
Irrigation water -- 3000 to 6000 for  salt tolerant plants.
Lake Mead = 850 uS/cm
Lake Superior = 97 uS/cm
Soil conductivity in New England = 10 to 20 uS/cm  (Map ARRL Antenna Handbook).
Deionized water = .05 uS/cm
"Fresh" water swamps =  250 to 37000 by one Australian study,  but conditions were strange there (the 37000 was almost dry,  all were drying out).
My guess for swamps = 250 to 3000 

>From what I can find online,  your conductivity ought to be 10 to 100 times mine.
It ought to be more conductive than Lake Superior for sure, i.e., substantially better than a clean lake.
If your swamp gets drier seasonally the conductivity should go up when it's drier but still liquid.

These numbers make it look like a fresh water swamp will be better for radio than almost all soils and most fresh water lakes but not as good as salt water.

I wonder if the swamp at the bottom of my hill helps on 2 meters.
--Walter, K1CMF