Name: __________________ Reg. No.

:____________
pH measurement
Experiment: Measurement of pH of water samples.
Apparatus required: Digital pH meter with electrode

Reagents required: Standard buffer solutions of pH 4.0, 7.0 and 9.2

Theory:
Water molecules ionise to yield hydrogen and hydroxide ions:
H2O ↔ H+ + OH- (1)
The equilibrium expression for the reaction is written as:
Keq = [H+ ][OH- ]/[H2O] (2)
where Keq = 1.85×10-16 at 250 C.
The concentration of the undissociated specie H2O is very large in comparison with H+ and OH-
andremains unchanged. The molar concentration of water in “pure” water is given by:
[H2O] = Mass of 1 L of water / molecular weight in grams
= 1000/18 = 55.5 moles/L (3)
Combining eqs (2) and (3), we get:
[H+][OH-] = 1.85×10-16 × 55.5 = 10-14
or [H+ ][OH- ] = Kw (4)
where Kw is called the ion product of water. At 250 C, it is equal to 10-14.

Note that ionisation of one mole of water yields one mole each of H + and OH- ions. In “pure water”,
therefore, the concentration of each H+ and OH- ions is 10-7 moles/L.

The pH of a solution is a measure of its hydrogen ion concentration. The pH scale offers the advantage of
allowing awkward numerical data as positive numbers. It is the logarithm (to the base 10) of inverse of
molar concentration of H+ ion:
pH = log {1/[H+]}
or pH = − log [H+ ] (5)
Therefore, the pH of “pure water” is 7, which is called neutral. It decreases when H + ions or an acid is
added to water and increases when OH- ions or an alkali is added or when H+ ions are consumed. The pH
of the most natural waters lies between 6 and 8.

1
pH of water is an important characteristics. It influences the equilibrium among chemical species of
importance in environmental processes, effectiveness of coagulation and precipitation reactions in water
treatment, potential of water to be corrosive, suitability of aqueous environment to support organisms, etc.

Procedure:
(i) Calibrate the pH meter with two standard buffer solutions of either pH 4.0 and 7.0 (for acidic
solutions) or 7.0 and 9.2 (for basic solutions).
(ii) Wash the electrodes carefully with distilled water and wipe it with tissue paper. Handle pH
electrode carefully, otherwise you may have broken the electrode during the experiments.
(iii) Immerse the electrodes into the sample of water (whose pH is to be determined) and wait up to few
minutes for steady reading.
(iv) The reading is observed and noted down after the indicated value becomes constant.

Record Your Observations:

Sl Sample pH value
No.
01 River water

02 Ground water

03 Tap water

04 7.0 Buffer solution

Further Reading:
1. Chapter 15 dealing with pH from Chemistry for Environmental Engineering by Clair N Sawyer, Perry
L McCarty & Gene F Parkin from Tata McGraw Hill India.
2. Chapter 4500 dealing with pH from Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater by
APHA, AWWA & WEF from Water Environment Federation, USA.