a. What is hard water? Why is the presence of hard water often considered a negative thing?

Hard water is essentially water with a high mineral count. Hard water is water that contains a high
concentration of calcium and magnesium ions, and it is considered hard if it has a hardness of 100mg/L
or more as calcium carbonate. It is often considered a negative thing because it is a sign of water passing
through limestone, which can be a bad sign for pipes and water lines. It can also cause taste problems in
water and harms many industrial processes

b. Based on the map in the link, how would you describe the pattern across the United States for water
hardness? What does the map indicate is the water hardness where you live?

It shows that the water moving inland becomes harder. The map indicates that the water hardness
where I live is between 200-400 mg/L.

c.What are the three methods for water hardness treatment mentioned in the article? Which of the
three seems like the best option?

Ion exchange, powdered and liquid chemicals, and non-chemical technologies are used to reduce
hardness in water. Ion exchange seems to be the best option because powdered and liquid chemicals
create residue and non-chemical technologies do not seem to be very effective.

a. How does ion exchange work? Why does it remove calcium ions (Ca2+) and magnesium ions (Mg2+)
from hard water?

Ion exchange uses cation exchange devices to replace calcium and magnesium with non-hardness ions.
The ions being used to replace are frequently sodium dissolved in water called brine. This works because
the calcium and magnesium ions attach to the sodium and leave the water less hard

b. What occurs during the recharge process? Why is recharging with a salt brine solution that contains
sodium chloride (NaCl) necessary?

In the recharge process, the calcium and magnesium are “cleaned” off using NaCl dissolved in water.
Using salt as the brine means the buildup of hardness ions are removed from the exchange device so it
will be able to do its job again. Using NaCl is also important because that is what the exchange device
already uses to remove the hardness ions. The chlorine also binds with the magnesium and the calcium.

c. Two products of the recharge process are calcium chloride and magnesium chloride. Based on your
knowledge of bonding and oxidation states (not based solely on the article), what are the chemical
formulas for the products of the recharge process? Report your answer with most likely oxidation states.

This looks like a double replacement reaction where the zeolite bonds with the sodium and the
magnesium or calcium bonds with chlorine. The chemical equation would look like: NaCl + 2CaZeolite =
Ca2Cl +Zeolite NaCl + 2MgZeolite = Mg2 + NaZeolite

d. Why might the engineers of the ion exchange devices need to understand the solubility of these
products?

They would need to understand the solubility in order to make an insoluble compound with the
hardness ions so that they wouldn’t stay in the water. They would have to also use a soluble compound
for recharge so that the magnesium and calcium could be removed.