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Alkalinity is a measure of the ability of a solution to neutralize acids to the equivalence point of carbonate or bicarbonate. Alkalinity is closely related to the acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) of a solution, and it is the acid neutralizing capacity that is often incorrectly used to refer to alkalinity.

The alkalinity of a system is equal to the stoichiometric sum of the bases in solution. In the natural environment, carbonate alkalinity tends to make up most of the total alkalinity due to the common occurrence and dissolution of carbonate rocks and presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Alkalinity is sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably with basicity as when the pH of a solution can be lowered by the addition of carbon dioxide. This will reduce the basicity; however, the alkalinity will remain unchanged.