WATER SOFTENING

• Hard water is high in minerals, usually

calcium and magnesium. These minerals
leave behind deposits that can clog drains,
stain glass and tile, prevent soap from
foaming, and leave a residue on hair and
skin. Studies have not found any health
risks or medical reasons for softening
water, but it is an inconvenience
nevertheless.
 Why soft water is essential for daily life?
The water to be supplied to the public should not be
very hard for the following reasons:
• It affects the working of dyeing system and leads to the
modification of some of the colors.
• It causes corrosion and incrustation of pipes and
plumbing fixtures.
• It causes more consumption of soap in laundry work and
hence proves to be uneconomical for washing processes
of textile industries.
• It makes food tasteless, tough or rubbery.
• It provides scales on the boilers and other hot water
heating systems.
 Level of hardness

• For potable water, it is desirable to bring down

the hardness of water to about 5 to 8 degrees.
• The water having hardness of about 5 degrees
is reasonably soft water. But it is found to be
tasteless.
• The water having hardness more than 8
degrees gives undesirable effects as mentioned
above.
 Advantages of a soft water

• (1) It improves the taste of foods.

• (2) It increases the life of textiles which are
frequently sent to the laundries.
• (3) It leads to overall cleanliness because of the
fact that personal washing and domestic cleansing
are much more efficient and less laborious with
soft water than with hard water.
• (4) It makes washing and cleansing easy.
 Advantages of a soft water
• (5) It restricts scale formation and subsequent loss of
heat in boilers, hot-water pipes, etc. and therefore,
economy is achieved in fuel consumption and saving
of labour in descaling the affected surfaces.
• (6) It results in saving of labour, soap and other
detergents.
• (7) It undoubtedly proves to be a sound economic
plan to soften public water supplies which are
hard in character.
 Types of hardness

• (1) Temporary hardness

• (2) Permanent hardness.
 Temporary hardness

• It is also known as carbonate hardness

and it is mainly due to the presence of
bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium.
 Permanent hardness
• It is also known as non-carbonate hardness and it
is mainly due to the presence of sulphates,
chlorides and nitrates of calcium and magnesium.
 Removal of Temporary hardness

• The temporary hardness of water can be

removed either by boiling or by adding lime.
The reactions involved at are as follows:
• The calcium carbonate CaC03 and magnesium
carbonate MgC03 are insoluble in water.
• They can, therefore, be easily removed in the
sedimentation tanks.
• The boiling of water on a large scale is
impracticable and uneconomical.
• Hence addition of lime is preferred to boiling
for the removal of temporary hardness.
 Removal of permanent hardness

• The permanent hardness cannot be removed

easily from water. Special treatment, known as
water softening treatment, is to be given to
water for the removal of permanent hardness
from it.
Methods for the removal of permanent hardness

• I. Lime-soda process
• II. Zeolite process
• III. Demineralisation process.
 Lime-soda process

• In this process, lime and sodium carbonate or

soda ash are used to remove permanent
hardness from water.
• The hardness is brought down to the level of 3
to 4 degrees.
• Following are the chemical reactions involved
in this process
• The compounds calcium carbonate CaC03 and
magnesium hydroxide Mg(OH)2 are insoluble
in water and they can, therefore, be arrested in
the sedimentation tanks.
• The other compounds formed during the
chemical reactions are soluble in water and
they do not impart the property of hardness to
water.
• Equation (i) indicates the chemical reaction
between lime and carbon dioxide present in
water.
• Equations (ii) and (iii) indicate the removal of
temporary hardness by the action of lime on
the bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium.
• Equation (iv) indicates the chemical reaction
between lime and magnesium sulphate.
• The reaction produces calcium sulphate and
hence, there is no softening of water as such.
• Equation (v) indicates the chemical reaction
between soda ash and calcium sulphate.
• Thus calcium sulphate already present in water
and also formed by equation (iv), is removed
by this chemical reaction.
• Equations (vi) and (vii) indicate the chemical
reactions between lime, and chlorides of
calcium and magnesium.
• Equations (viii) and (ix) indicate the chemical
reactions between soda ash and chlorides of
calcium and magnesium.
 Advantages of lime-soda process
• (1) The pH value of water treated by this process
is increased which results in decrease in corrosion
of the distribution system.
• (2) When this process is adopted, less quantity of
coagulant will be required.
• (3) There is removal of iron and manganese also
to some extent.
• (4) There is reduction of total mineral content of
water.
• (5) There is likelihood of killing of pathogenic
bacteria. This occurs when causticity caused by
calcium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide of 20
to 50 p.p.m. is retained in the treated water for
a period of about 4 to 5 hours.
• (6) The process is economical.
• (7) This process is most suitable for turbid and
acidic waters where it will not be possible to
adopt zeolite process.
• (8) The whole process is easy and simple and it
can be accommodated in the existing filter
plant of any water supply scheme.
 Disadvantages of lime-soda process
• (1) The large quantity of sludge formed during
this process is to be disposed off by some
suitable method. It can either be discharged
directly into river or stream or municipal
sewers or it can be used for raising the level of
low-lying areas.
• (2) The process requires skilled supervision for
its successful working.
• (3) If recarbonation is omitted, a thick layer of
calcium carbonate will be deposited in the
filtering media, distribution pipes, etc.
• (4) The calcium carbonate is slightly soluble in
water to the extent of about 0·03 gm per liter.
Hence this process cannot produce water of zero
hardness. But as water of zero hardness is not
required for public water supply, this
disadvantage does not prove to be serious.
Thanks