CHEMISTRY DIGITAL ASSIGNMENT-1

MADE BY: ADITYA GHOSH

REGISTRATION NUMBER – 19BME0519

HARDNESS OF WATER AND ITS

TREATMENT
Hard water is water that has high mineral content
(in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed
when water percolates through deposits
of limestone, chalk or gypsum which are largely
made up
of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbonat
es and sulphates.
Hard drinking water may have moderate health
benefits, but can pose critical problems in
industrial settings, where water hardness is
monitored to avoid costly breakdowns
in boilers, cooling towers, and other equipment
that handles water. In domestic settings, hard
water is often indicated by a lack of foam formation
when soap is agitated in water, and by the
formation of lime-scale in kettles and water
heaters. Wherever water hardness is a
concern, water softening is commonly used to
reduce hard water's adverse effects.

SOURCES OF HARDNESS:

Water's hardness is determined by

the concentration of multivalent cations in the
water. Common cations found in hard water
include Ca2+ and Mg2+. These ions enter a water
supply by leaching from minerals within an aquifer.
Common calcium-containing minerals
are calcite and gypsum.
A common magnesium mineral is dolomite (which
also contains
calcium). Rainwater and distilled water are soft,
because they contain few ions.
The following equilibrium reaction describes
the dissolving and formation of calcium
carbonate and calcium bicarbonate (on the right):
CaCO3(s) + CO2(aq) + H2O(l)
⇌ Ca2+(aq) + 2HCO3-(aq)
The reaction can go in either direction. Rain
containing dissolved carbon dioxide can react
with calcium carbonate and carry calcium ions
away with it. The calcium carbonate may be re-
deposited as calcite as the carbon dioxide is lost
to atmosphere, sometimes
forming stalactites and stalagmites.
Calcium and magnesium ions can sometimes be
removed by water softeners.

TYPES OF HARDNESS:


TEMPORARY HARDNESS: Caused by the
presence of dissolved carbonate and
bicarbonate minerals (Calcium and
Magnesium bicarbonates). This can be
removed by boiling and other physical
methods.

PERMANENT HARDNESS: Caused by the
presence of sulphate and chloride salts of
calcium and magnesium. These cannot be
removed by physical methods like boiling.

MEASUREMENT OF HARDNESS

Water hardness is often not expressed as a

molar concentration, but rather in various units,
such as degrees of general hardness (dGH),
German degrees (°dH), parts per million (ppm,
mg/L, or American degrees), grains per gallon
(gpg), English degrees (°e, e, or oClark), or
 French degrees (°fH, °f or °HF; lowercase f is
used to prevent confusion with degrees
Fahrenheit).

The various alternative units represent an

equivalent mass of calcium oxide (CaO) or calcium
carbonate (CaCO3) that, when dissolved in a unit
volume of pure water, would result in the same
total molar concentration of Mg2+ and Ca2+. The
different conversion factors arise from the fact that
equivalent masses of calcium oxide and calcium
carbonates differ, and that different mass and
volume units are used. The units are as follows:
 Parts per million (ppm) is usually defined as
1 mg/L CaCO3 (the definition used below). It is
equivalent to mg/L without chemical compound
specified, and to American degree.
 Grains per Gallon (gpg) is defined as
1 grain (64.8 mg) of calcium carbonate per U.S.
gallon (3.79 litres), or 17.118 ppm.
 a mmol/L is equivalent to 100.09 mg/L CaCO3 or
40.08 mg/L Ca2+.
 A degree of General Hardness (dGH or 'German
degree (°dH, deutsche Härte))' is defined as
10 mg/L CaO or 17.848 ppm.
 A Clark degree (°Clark) or English degrees (°e
or e) is defined as one grain (64.8 mg) of
CaCO3 per Imperial gallon (4.55 litres) of water,
equivalent to 14.254 ppm.
 A French degree (°fH or °f) is defined as
10 mg/L CaCO3, equivalent to 10 ppm.

The table below shows conversion factors

between the various units.
 TREATMENT OF HARD WATER:

The process of removing the hardness

producing substances from the water before it is
passed inside the boiler for steam generation is
known as softening of water. In Industry, 3
main methods are employed for softening of
water.

1. Lime soda process

(i) Cold lime-soda process (residual hardness: 50
to 60 ppm) and
(ii) Hot lime-soda process (residual hardness: 15
to 30 ppm)
2. Zeolite (permutit process) (residual hardness:
up to10 ppm)
3. Ion-exchange (de-ionization or de-
mineralization) process
(i) Cation exchange resins (RH+)
(ii) Anion exchange resins (R’OH-)
(iii) Mixed-bed deionizer (residual hardness: < 1
ppm)
COLD LIME SODA PROCESS:
HOT LIME SODA PROCESS:
ZEOLITE OR PERMUTIT PROCESS:

Method of softening:

Na2Ze + Ca(HCO3)2 CaZe + 2 NaHCO3

Na2Ze + Mg(HCO3)2 MgZe + 2 NaHCO3
Na2Ze + CaSO4 CaZe + Na2SO4
Na2Ze + CaCl2 CaZe + 2 NaCl
o Regeneration of Zeolite using Brine
solution:

CaZe (or) MgZe + 2 NaClNa2Ze + CaCl2

or MgCl2
ION EXCHANGE PROCESS:
At cation exchange column: The hard water is first
passed through cation exchange column, which
removes all the cations like Ca2+, Mg2+, etc and an
equivalent amount of H+ ions are released from this
column to water.

2 RH+ + Ca2+/Mg2+  R2Ca2+/R2Mg2+ + 2 H+

At anion exchange column: Removes all anions like

SO42-, Cl-, etc present in the water; an equivalent
amount of OH- ions are released from this column into
the water.
R’OH- + Cl-  R’ + Cl- + OH-
2 R’OH- + SO42-  R’2 SO42- + 2 OH-
2 R’OH- + CO32-  R’2 CO32- + 2 OH-

Finally,
H+ + OH-  H2O (de-ionized water)
Regeneration: When the capacity of the ion exchange
resins to exchange H+ and OH- ions are lost, they are
said to be exhausted.
R2Ca2+/R2Mg2++ 2H+ (dil. HCl or H2SO4)2 RH+ +
Ca2+/Mg2+ (cation)
(washings)
 R’2 SO42-+ 2OH-(dil. NaOH)2 R’OH- + SO42-
(anion)

REFERENCES:
 Wikipedia
 Vtop.vit.ac.in
 Slideshare.net