King Faisal University

College of Engineering
Department of Civil &
Environmental Engineering

Environmental Engineering Lab

CEE 350

Experiment
Number and
Name
Date of
Performing the
Experiment
Date of
Submission the
Report
Student Name
Student ID
Group No./Group
Name
Section No./Section
Day

Lab Instructor
Abstract:

( 1 )

Determination of EC of water

10th

Oct

2016

17th

Oct

2016

Arafat Abdulrahman Ali

213189413
2
1/Mon

Engr. Ziad Shatnawi

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-

This experiment has been aimed to determine the Electrical conductivity (EC) value
in water. EC is a measure of the dissolved material in an aqueous solution, which relates
to the ability of the material to conduct electrical current through it. Water molecules
dissociate into ions as a function of pH and temperature and result in a very predictable

conductivity. Water conductivity is also affected by the presence of extraneous ions. The
higher the dissolved material in a water sample, the higher the EC will be in that material.

II-

Presentation of Results:

2.1- Data & Results

Table (1): Data and Results for EC Test.
Water Sample
Conductivity
S/cm
Distilled Water
17.21
Drinking Water
197.3
Waste Water
9800
Tap Water
1724

TDS
(PPm)*
11.0144
126.272
6272
1103.36

Temperature
(oC)
23.4
23.7
22.9
23.2

*Where (TDS= 0.64* S/cm) [1]

EC

EC S/cm

12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0

9800
17.21

197.3

1724

water Samples

Fig. (1): Results for EC experiment.

III-

Discussion of Results:

According to the gained results by this experiment which has been represented in figure (1); the Electric
Conductivity enormously differed from one water sample to the another depending mostly on the PH, the
concentration of ions already presented in water and the temperature of each sample. Easily it is observed that
the EC is direct proportional to the pH value when it goes beyond the neutral point (pH=7) even when it is
increasing or decreasing. This confirms that the EC depends on the amount of the free H + or OH- ions in the
water sample. Moreover, it indicates that the ability of water solution to conduct the electricity is influenced
by the temperature of the solution since when the temperature rises the capacity of the solution to dissolve

salts and solids increases; so that the free decomposed ions is intensively increase as well the EC property
will be high. Compering to the results the most EC values was found in the waste water (9800 S/cm) and the
tap water (1724 S/cm). this indicates that the pH values are more than other samples as well as it indicates
these samples containing some dissolved salts and solids more than the distilled and the drinking water. Also,
the distilled water EC is very low (17.21 S/cm) because that its pH value very close to neutral point (pH= 7)
and it mostly contains a negligible amount of the dissolved solids.

IV-

Conclusion:

The conductivity of water is a measure of the ability of water to carry and conduct electric current. The milliSiemens or micro-Siemens are used as units for water conductivity since it has low conductivity compering to
the other good conductors. The conductivity of water is directly related to the concentration of the ions
present in the water and their mobility. These ions act as electrolytes and conducts the electricity. Therefore;
the conductivity value gives a rapid way and an indictor to the strength of the ions in solution. This measure
gives a relation closely to the total dissolved solid content in water. The total dissolved solids are about
seventy percent of the conductivity. [1]

V-

References:
[1]. http://www.smart-fertilizer.com/articles/electrical-conductivity
[2].http://nitttrc.ac.in/four%20quadrant/eel/quadrant%20-%201/exp3_pdf.pdf