Water

Water is the most abundant substance on the surface of our planet and is essential for all living
organisms

Water Cycle
• Water in rivers, lakes and the oceans is evaporated by the heat of the Sun (endothermic).
• The water vapor formed rises into the atmosphere, cools and forms clouds of condensation
(exothermic).
• Clouds eventually condense into rain and snow (precipitation).
• Precipitated water eventually returns to the rivers, seas and oceans.

Uses of water
a) In Industry
• For cooling
• As a solvent
• For cleaning
• As a reactant

b) At home
• Drinking
• Cooking
• Cleaning

Implication of inadequate supply of water

Unavailability of fresh water leads to:
• waterborne diseases, such as cholera and typhoid
• diarrhea (one of the biggest killers across the world)
• famine, agriculture needs a water supply in order to irrigate crops

Natural Water
Water from natural sources contains many substances, some of which include:

• dissolved oxygen
• metal compounds
• plastics
• sewage
• harmful microbes
• nitrates from fertilisers
• phosphates from fertilisers and detergents

Some of these substances are beneficial to living organisms, like:

• dissolved oxygen for aquatic life
• some metal compounds provide essential minerals for life

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While others are potential harmful:
• some metal compounds are toxic
• some plastics harm aquatic life
• sewage contains harmful microbes which cause disease
• nitrates and phosphates lead to deoxygenation of water and damage to aquatic life

Further sources of pollution include:

• acid rain.
• Power stations which generate electricity consume huge amounts of water for cooling
purposes. When water is returned to rivers or lakes it will be hotter, decreasing oxygen
solubility. Aquatic life suffers as a result of lesser oxygen.

• Water Treatment
Steps involved in water treatment are:
Sedimentation, filtration and screening to remove solids
Sterilization to kill microbes
Removal of tastes and odours by using carbon

• Before treatment, water has both soluble and insoluble impurities. It is made safe to drink by
removing the solid impurities and killing bacteria.
• Solid impurities, like soil, plant parts, organic matter are removed by sedimentation and filtration.
Water is stored undisturbed so the solids settle at the bottom (sedimentation). The water is then
passed through stone and sand filter beds to remove any solid impurities that escaped
sedimentation.
• Chlorine is bubbled through the water to kill bacteria.
• The safe clear water is pumped through underground pipes to houses.

In addition to chlorine, other methods can be used to sterilize water, these include:
• Ultra violet light
• Adding Ozone, the addition of ozone kills the bacteria easily and can also attack some of the
organic matter responsible for the bad smell of water. Ozone is a highly poisonous gas so care
has to be taken when adding it.

Removing tastes and odours from water is an important step in water treatment. This is usually done
by:
• Aeration, as water is mixed with air any volatile impurities responsible for odours are released
• Filtration through activated carbon, this removes tastes and odours.

Some countries add sodium fluoride, NaF, to the water to reduce the tooth decay. This is not highly
recommended because it leads to the appearance of permanent black lines in the teeth.

Test for the presence of water

A hydrated substance is one that is chemically combined with water while an anhydrous substance is
one containing no water. The term water of crystallisation refers to the water molecules present in
hydrated crystals. Of the anhydrous salts two are very useful to indicate the presence of water:
anhydrous copper(II) sulfate and anhydrous cobalt(II) chloride.

• Using anhydrous copper (II) sulfate: Water turns white anhydrous copper (II) sulfate blue.

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 CuSO4(s) + 5H2O(l) → CuSO4.5H2O
White blue

• Using anhydrous cobalt (II) chloride: Water turns blue anhydrous cobalt (II) chloride pink.

CoCl2(s) + 6H2O(l) → CoCl2.6H2O

Blue pink

Test for water purity

By determining the boiling point (100°C) and/or freezing point (0°C).
Any pure material must have a sharp, fixed and definite freezing point and boiling point.
So if the liquid boils at a fixed 100°C and/or freezes at a fixed 0°C then it is pure water.

Pure water can only be produced by distillation.

• It is not good to drink distilled water. Water is a source of ions for the body, without which
health problems may arise.
• It is used in practical chemistry because it contains a lot less chemical impurities