Problem 3

A ground water contains the following constituents:

Substance/Ion Concentration, ppm

Carbon dioxide 62

Calcium ion 80

Magnesium ion 36.6

Sodium ion 23

Bicarbonate ion 250 mg/L as CaCO3

Chloride ion 35

Sulfate ion 96

The facility is to treat 5 x 10 6 L/day of water from this source using lime-soda to reduce
hardness.
Find TH, CH and NCH.
Calculate lime and soda dosages for softening (in kg/day). Assume that the lime is 96 %
Ca(OH)2 by weight and the soda is pure.

Solution
1. Convert mg/L to mg/L as CaCO3:
Ion/ Substrate mg/L as ion mg/L as CaCO3
CO2 62 141
Ca2+ 80 200
Mg2+ 36.6 153
Na+ 23 50
HCO3- 250 (given)
SO42- 96 100
Cl- 35 50

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2. Plot the bar chart

TH = 353 mg/L as CaCO3

CH = 250 mg/L as CaCO3
NCH = TH – CH = 103 mg/L as CaCO3

3. Calculate total dosage of lime should be added for TH removal in mg/L as CaCO3:
CO2 141

HCO3- (associated with Ca2+) 200

HCO3- (associated with Mg2+) 50 × 2

SO42- (associated with Mg2+) 100

Cl- (associated with Mg2+) 3

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Extra lime dosage is 40 mg/L as CaCO3.
Total concentration of lime dosage = (141 + 200 +100 + 100 +40 + 3) = 581/584 mg/L as
CaCO3

4. Find dosage of lime:

x
581/584mg/L as CaCO3 = × 50 = 430/432 mg/L as Ca(OH)2
74/2
430/ 432mg / L kg
× 5× 106 L=2240/2250 asCa(OH)2
0.96 day

5. Find dosage of soda:

Concentration of soda = NCH
NCH =103 mg/L as CaCO3
Convert from mg/L as CaCO3 tomg/L as Na2CO3
x
103 mg/L as CaCO3 = × 50 = 109 mg/L as Na2CO3
106/ 2
kg
109 mg/ L× 5× 106 L /day=545 asNa2CO3
day

6. Bar chart for the treated water:

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Problem 4
Estimate the pH that results from the addition of 100 ppm of alum to water with no alkalinity,
and estimate the amount of sodium hydroxide (in ppm) required to bring pH to 7.

Solution
1. Molar concentration of alum:
100 mg/L of alum / MW of alum = 1.68 × 10-4 moles/L

2. How much moles of sulfuric acid have been formed:

Al2(SO4)3x14H2O2Al (OH)3x 3H2O(s) + 3H2SO4 +2H2O
1 mole of alum producing 3 moles of H2SO4
3 × 1.68 × 10-4mol/L = 5.04 × 10-4mol/L

3. H2SO4dissociates into:
H2SO42H+ + SO42-
From here concentration of H+in mol/L:
2 × 5.04 × 10-4 = 1.01 × 10-3 mol/L

4. To find pH:
pH = -log [H+] = -log [1.01 × 10-3] = 3

5. We need to add the base to raise pH to 7.

H2SO4+ 2NaOH = Na2SO4 +2H2O
Therefore, 2 moles of NaOH are required to neutralize each mole of H2SO4
2 x 5.04 × 10-4 = 10-3 mol/L
In ppm: 10-3 mol/L x 40 g/mol x 103 mg/g = 40 ppm