Chapter 9 :

Water Conditioning
Mrs.Eman Al Futaisi
Introduction
Industrial wastewaters present a complex
and challenging problem to the chemical
engineer.
Besides moral and community
considerations , laws prohibiting and
limiting the pollution of streams and air
require these problems to be considered as a
necessary operating expenses. .
MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering
(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Introduction
 Importance of water conditioning and wastewater
treatment :
 Increasing reuse of wastewaters
 Control of pollution
 Recovery of by-products at their source to lower the
expense of treatment to keep pollution at a minimum
level.

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Hard water
 Hard water: What is it?
When water falls as rain, it is (soft) and free of
minerals. It picks up minerals as it passes through
rock, sand and soil. Hard water is high minerals salts
especially calcium and magnesium ions.

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Hard water
 Hard waters are those containing objectionable
amounts of dissolved salts of calcium and
magnesium .These are usually present as
bicarbonates , chlorides , sulfates , carbonates and
silicate from blocking scales with low thermal
conductivity in boilers. Magnesium silicate as
well as calcium carbonate may reduce heat
transfer in process heat exchangers.

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Hard water
 Hardness is usually expressed in terms of the dissolved
calcium and magnesium salts calculated as calcium
carbonate equivalent.
 Water hardness may be divided into two classes: carbonate
and noncarbonate, also frequently known as temporary
and permanent.
 Temporary hardness can usually be greatly reduced by
boiling; permanent hardness requires the use of chemical
agents.
 Carbonate or temporary hardness is caused by
bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium ;noncarbonate or
permanent hardness is due to the sulfates and chlorides of
calcium and
MoHE-CAS-Sohar, magnesium.
Department of Engineering
(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Hard water
Examples of Problems created by hard water?
 Hard water minerals can clog pipes and reduce water
flow.
 Minerals deposits can accumulate in bath/kitches
 reduce heat transfer in process heat exchangers.
 Laundering
Clothes washed in hard water often look dirty and feel
tough. The hardness minerals combine with some soils to
form insoluble salts, making them difficult to remove.

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
 Bathing
Bathing with soap in hard water leaves a film of sticky soap
curd on the skin. The film may prevent removal of soil and
bacteria.
 Dishwashers
When washing dishes, especially in a dishwasher, hard water
may cause spotting and filming on your plates.
 Problems in Water Boiler Systems and Pipework
Pipes can become clogged with scale that reduces water flow
and ultimately requires pipe replacement.

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Water Conditioning
 Definition - What does Water Conditioning mean?
 Water conditioning is a method of removing or altering minerals,
chemicals and contaminants from a water source.
 Water conditioning act against hardness in water to prevent a
buildup of limescale. Although water conditioning is technically
a broader term for any process that changes the characteristics of
water, it is also widely used to mean water softening. Water
conditioning may also be used when referring to water filtration
or purification to improve the taste of drinking water.

 Limescale : a whitish deposit on the inside of pipes, pots, and

kettles, caused by minerals leeched from the water.
MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering
(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
 METHODS OF CONDITIONING WATER
 The purification and softening of water may be
accomplished by different methods depending on the
prospective use:
 Softening: process which remove or reduce the hardness
of water
 Purification: removal of organic matter and
microorganism
 Clarification : important and may be combined with cold-
water softening by precipitation.

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
 METHODS OF Softening
1- Ion exchange
1.1 Sodium –cation-exchange process
1.2 The hydrogen –cation –exchange process
2- Lime Soda Process
3- Phosphate conditioning
4- Silica Removal
5- Deareation
6- Demineralization and Desalting
In this course will discussed only the most widely used
methods which are the Ion exchange 1.1 and 1.2
MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering
(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Sodium-cation exchange Process
 Sodium-cation exchange process is the most widely
used method for softening water.
 Steps :
1- Calcium and magnesium ions are removed from hard
water by cation exchange for sodium ions.
2- when the exchange resign has essentially removed the
calcium and magnesium ions to the limit of its capacity ,
the resign is regenerated to the sodium form with a salt
solution in the pH range of 6 to 8.

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Sodium-cation exchange Process
 3- When the ability of the cation-exchange bed to
produce completely softened water is exhausted , the
softener unit is temporarily taken out of service ,
regenerated with a solution of common salt (sodium
chloride) , which removes the calcium and magnesium
in the form of their soluble chlorides and
simultaneously restores the cation exchange to its
sodium state and return to soften another equal volume
of hard water.

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Equations

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Hydrogen –cation -exchange
 Look like the sodium cation Procedure except that the
exchange resins contain Hydrogen ion which used to
remove all cations.
Example : The R symbol represents the complex
radical for the hydrogen-cation exchanger in the
following reactions :

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Automatic sodium-cation exchanger water softener
MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering
(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Hydrogen –cation –exchange Process
1- with bicarbonate

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri
Hydrogen –cation –exchange Process

MoHE-CAS-Sohar, Department of Engineering

(CHEN2231), Mrs.Mitha Al-Jabri