Properties of water

• Physical properties
(i) Colour (Dissolved minerals dies or humic
acid from plant)
(ii) Odour (Organic and inorganic chemicals)
(iii) Taste (Microorganisms and algae, high
concentration of salt)
(iv) Temperature
(v) Turbidity (suspended matters)
(VI) Solids
• Total solids, TS
• Suspended solids, SS
• Total dissolved soilds, TDS = TS-SS
• Total volatile solids, TVS
• Volatile suspended solids, VSS
Chemical properties of water
• Inorganic properties of water
• Organic properties of water
Inorganic Chemical properties
• pH
• Alkalinity and acidity
• Hardness
• Conductivity
pH depends upon
The types of rock/soil from which acid/alkaline
compounds can be eroded.
The carbonate system and the concentration
of carbonates and carbon dioxide; water with
low carbonate concentrations are usually
acidic.
The exposure to wastewater or atmospheric
pollutants
Alkalinity and acidity
• Alkalinity is the capacity of water to accept H+ ions, is a
measure of its acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) and is often
described as Buffering capacity.
• Similarly acidity is a measure of base neutralizing capacity
(BNC)
• Alkalinity is due to the following carbonate system.
(i) Hydroxide
(ii) carbonate ion
(iii) Bicarbonate ion
(iv) Carbon dioxide
• Besides the carbonate system species, other salts of weak
acids such as borates, silicates and phosphates also contribute
to alkalinity.
• Alkalinity is measured volumetrically by titration with N/50
H2SO4 and is declared in mg CaCo3.
Hardness
• Hardness is expressed principally by the sum
of the divalent metallic cations, Ca2+ and Mg2+.
• These cations react with soap to form
precipitate and with other ions present in
water to form scale in boilers.
• The ions causing hardness have their origin in
soil & geological formations.
The ions responsible for hardness are listed below.

Cations Anions
Ca2+ HCO3-
Mg2+ SO42-
Si2+ Cl-
Fe2+ NO3-
Mn2+ SiO32-
 • Carbonate hardness/temporary hardness
Carbonate Hardness   Bicarbonat e  Carbonate alkalinity

• Non-carbonate Hardness
• Hardness is computed in mg/L as CaCO3 as
follows
50
Hardness in mg / L as CaCO3  Concn (mg / L) 
equivalentw weight
Hardness in mg / L as CaCO3  Concn (meq / L)  50
Constit Mg/L Meq/L
uents
Ca2+ 60 3
Mg2+ 29.3 2.4
HCO3- 366 6
Ions Concn Atomic Valence Eq. Hardness
(mg/L) Weight weight (mg/L as
CaCO3)
Ca2+ 60 40 2 20 150
Mg2+ 29.3 24 2 12 120
HCO3- 366 61 1 61 300

Total Hardness (TH)=Ca2++Mg2+=270 mg/L as CaCO3

Carbonate Hardness (CH)= HCO3-=300 mg/L as CaCO3
However The CH cannot exceed the TH and CH is therefore represented as 270
mg/L as CaCO3
Conductivity
• Electrically conductivity/ conductivity is a measure of the ability of an
aqueous solution to carry an electric current.
• The electric current is conducted in the solution by the movement of ions
and so the higher no. of ions the higher the ionic mobility and so the
higher magnitude of conductivity.
• Chemically pure water does not conduct electricity since the only ions
present are H+ and OH-. So the conductivity of very pure water is about
0.05microSimens/cm.
• While, a sea water with high salts has a conductivity of about
40000microsimens/cm.
• The specific conductivity is the conductivity of 1cm3 of water across a 1 cm
distance at 20˚C.
• Conductivity is measured by placing a conductivity meter in a water
sample and recording the electrical resistance.
• In water, the conductivity is due to dissociation of inorganic compounds as
organic compounds dissociate little. So conductivity is an indication of
concentration of dissolved organic salts.
• If the concentration of ions are known, then conductivity can
be computed from
n
eC  C f
i 1
i i

whereeC  ElectricalConductivity in s / cm
Ci  Concentrationof ionicSpeciesi in solutionin mg / L
fi  Conductivity factor for theionicspecies

In water quality analysis, conductivity has been used to

determine other parameters.
• Salinity (mg NaCl/lit)=eC X fs
where fs= conversion factor=0.52-0.55
• Total solids (mg TS/lit)=eC X fts
where fts=0.55-0.9
• Total dissolved solids (mg TDS/lit)=eC X ftds
where ftds=0.55-0.7
Organic Chemical properties of water

Organic compounds in water are typically

divided into four groups.
• Hydrocarbons: These are organic compounds
containing only C & H.
• Halogenated hydrocarbons
• Carboxylic acids and esters: with carboxylic
group. Ex- acetone, formaldehyde, ethyl ester
• Other organic compounds
Determination of organic content in water

(i) BOD (a biological test that uses

microorganisms)
(ii) COD (a chemical test)
(iii) TOC (an instrumental test)
(iv) TOD (an instrumental test)
BOD (Biochemical oxygen demand)

• The amount of dissolved oxygen used up from the

water sample by micro-organisms as they breakdown
organic material at 20˚C over a 5-day period is called
as BOD.
• It measures the readily biodegradable organic
carbon.
• The BOD5 is arbitrarily set at 5 days and this may not
be long enough to determine the BOD ultimate,
which is again arbitrarily set at 20 days.
• Typically BODu=2XBOD5
COD (Chemical oxygen demand)
• The amount of oxygen needed to chemically oxidize the
organics in a water sample.
• The COD test measures the total organic carbon, with the
exception of some aromatics such as benzene which are not
oxidized in the reaction.
• A strong chemical oxidizing agent is used to oxidize the
organics rather than using micro-organisms.
• The oxidizing agent is potassium dichromate in an acid
solution.
• The COD test takes 2 hrs of time.
• The disadvantages of this test is it tells nothing about the
rates of biodegradation.
• Generally BOD5=0.6 COD
• BODu=0.92 COD
TOC (Total Organic Carbon)
• The TOC test measures all carbon as CO2 in mg/lit and
therefore the inorganic carbon(HCO3-, CO2, CO32- etc) must be
removed prior to the test.
• Acidifying and aerating the sample is the method used to
remove inorganic carbon.
• This test can be carried out by oxidizing the carbon to CO2 at a
temp of about 950˚C in the presence of a catalyst, the CO2 is
then determined spectrophotometrically by infrared
absorption.
• The TOC test measures the mass of carbon per liter of sample,
while BOD and COD tests determine the amount of oxygen
required for biochemical and chemical oxidation respectively.
• Theoretically, the COD is 2.66 times greater than TOC.
 Schematic of BOD-COD-Total organic matter

BOD5
BODu
Biodegradable
COD
Total
Organic
material

Non
Biodegradable
Q If a bacterial cells are represented by the
chemical formula C5H7O2N. Determine the
potential carbonaceous BOD.
Ans:
C5H7O2N + 5O2 5CO2 +2H2O +NH3
Each mole of bacteria cells requires 5 moles of
O2 for oxidation.
COD = 1.42 g/L
BODu=0.92X1.42=1.31 g/L
TOC = 0.53 g/L
Q: A wastewater is analyzed and is shown to
contain 100 mg/lit ethylene glycol (C6H6O2)
and 120 mg/lit of phenol (C6H6O). Determine
the COD and TOC.
C2H6O2+2.5 O2 2CO2+3H2O
C6H6O + 7O2 6CO2 + 3H2O
A waste water treatment plant with an output of
38400 m3/day discharges the liquid effluent
with a BOD of 20 mg/lit into a river. If the BOD
of the river upstream of the discharge point is
0.2 mg/lit, at a minimum flow of 20 m3/sec,
compute the BOD of the river downstream of
the discharge, assuming complete mixing.
 microorganisms
Organicmatter O2  nutrient new biomass CO2  H 2O Stable product

• The saturation concentration of O2 in water at 200C is

9.2 mg/L.
• In BOD test, dilution of wastewater sample with BOD
free, oxygen-saturated water is necessary if the BOD
of the wastewater is > 3mg/L.
• A sample of wastewater is diluted with seeded water
and is placed in an airtight bottle, measuring the
concentration of DO at day 0 and again at day 5.
• The difference of DO is BOD5.
• BOD5 = p (DOI – DO5)
Where,
p = dilution of the sample in the BOD bottle
DOI = The initial DO concentration
DOf = Final DO concentration
Problem:
The results from a BOD test, diluted by 100, are given in the
following table. Compute the BOD.
Time (days) Diluted sample DO (mg.L)
0 7.95
1 3.75
2 3.45
3 2.75
4 2.15
5 1.8
solution

Time (days) Diluted sample DO BOD calculated

(mg.L) (mg/L)
0 7.95 ---
1 3.75 420
2 3.45 450
3 2.75 520
4 2.15 580
5 1.8 615
In addition to the oxygen demand by the wastewater
sample, the seeded dilution water is likely to exert
some oxygen demand of its own. Thus
BOD5 = p[(DOI – DO5) – (BI-Bf)f]
Where,
p = dilution factor
BI and Bf = initial and final DO concentrations of the
seeded dilution water (blanks)
f = ratio of seed DO in sample to seed in blanks
= (% of seed in DOI)/(% of seed in BI)
Problem:
The results from a BOD test, diluted by 100, with
the DO of diluted sample and blank sample is
depicted in the following table. Compute the
BOD taking the seed fraction is 0.99.
Time (days) Diluted sample DO Blank seeded
(mg/L) sample DO (mg/L)
0 7.95 8.15
1 3.75 8.1
2 3.45 8.05
3 2.75 8
4 2.15 7.95
5 1.8 7.9
Solution
Time Diluted Blank BOD BOD
(days) sample DO seeded calculated corrected
(mg/L) sample DO (mg/L) (mg/L)
(mg/L)
0 7.95 8.15 ---- ----
1 3.75 8.1 420 415
2 3.45 8.05 450 440
3 2.75 8 520 505
4 2.15 7.95 580 560
5 1.8 7.9 615 590
The rate of decomposition of organic matter is proportional to
the amount of organic matter available.
dLt
 Lt
dt
dLt
  K1 Lt
dt
W here, Lt  BOD, i.e. BODremianing, mg / L
K1  BODdeoxygenated rate coefficient , day1
Integrating ,
Lt  L0e  K1t
W here, L0  BODu , i.e., ultimateBOD

BODt = BODu – BODr

Where, BODt = BOD exerted at time t (or oxygen demand)
BODr = BOD remaining at time t


BODt  L0  Lt  L0  L0e K1t  L0 1  e K1t 
Problem:
The results from a BOD test, diluted by 100, are given in the following
table. The deoxygenation rate coefficient is 0.15 day-1. Determine
the carbonaceous BOD. (Ans: 1165mg/L)

Time (days) Diluted sample DO (mg.L)

0 7.95
1 3.75
2 3.45
3 2.75
4 2.15
5 1.8
Temperature has an effect on K1 and is related
by
(T  20)
KT  K 20

W here, KT  The rate at temperature T (C )

K 20  The rateat 20C ( Known)
  coefficient 1.047 for 20C  T  30C
1.35 for 4C  T  20C
Problem:
A waste water is being discharged into a river
that has a temperature of 100C. What fraction
of the maximum oxygen consumption has
occurred in 4 days if the BOD rate constant
determined under standard condition id 0.115
day-1.
Nitrogenous biochemical oxygen demand
In addition to CBOD, oxygen demand exerted by the
oxidation of nitrogenous compound. Suffice to say the
ammonia is oxidized to nitrite and nitrite is oxidized to
nitrate.
2NH3 +3O2 2NO - + 2H+ + 2H O
Nitromonas 2 2
2NO2- + O2 2NO3-
Nitrobacter
These two reactions are termed as nitrification. The oxygen
demand associated with oxidation of ammonia to nitrate
is called the nitrogenous biochemical oxygen demand
(NBOD). Typically the NBOD occurs later than 5 days and
does not show up in the CBOD test.
Problem:
The results from a BOD test, diluted by 100, are
given in the following table. The
deoxygenation rate coefficient is 0.15 day-1.
Determine the total oxygen demand if the
sample contains 25mg/L of nitrogen. (Ans:
1279 mg/L)
 Excercise
1. Compute the COD for 108.75 mg/L of glucose.
2. If in 3 days BOD of a waste water is 75 mg/L and the BOD decay
constant is 0.345 day-1, calculate the ultimate BOD.
3. The BOD of a waste water sample is estimated to be 180mg/L.
What volume of undiluted sample should be added to a 300ml
bottle?
4. What is the BOD5 of a waste water sample if the DO for blank and
diluted sample after 5 days are 8.7 and 4.2 mg/L respectively.
(dilution factor = 0.022)
5. Compute the theoretical NBOD of a waste water containing
30mg/L of ammonia as nitrogen.
6. If the wastewater analysis was reported as 30mg/L of ammonia,
what would be theoretical NBOD?