2 Lab Report 2

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ENE 262 Introduction to Environmental

Engineering

Lab report 2 - Hardness

Team 5
1 Guilherme Ferreira Santa Cecilia
2 Sara Andreia da Silva
3 Paul Shupak
4 Adeniyi Olobashola

1. INTRODUCTION
For the principles of chemistry we know that when ionic substances dissolve in
water they are split into their constituent ions. These ions stay in the solution unless
something happens to make them precipitate out as a solid. The presence of
dissolved calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) ions in the water cause the
hardness. There are other cations that can contribute to hardness too, as Al3+ and
Fe3+, although their presence is less critical than Ca2+ and Mg2+.
Water hardness is mainly caused by the presence of calcium bicarbonate
(Ca(HCO3)2) which is picked up by rain water passing through lime stone (CaCO3).
As rain water falls it dissolves carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and becomes
slightly acidic because carbonic acid (H2CO3) is formed. As CaCO3 is not very
soluble in water however, when the dilute acid runs through the lime stone a
reaction occurs that creates calcium bicarbonate which is readily soluble.
Water hardness that is caused by bicarbonates and carbonates from the
calcium and magnesium are called temporary hardness, it is because they can be
removed by boiling the water. When hard water is heated the previous two reactions
are reversed and calcium carbonate, water and carbon dioxide are formed. Since
calcium carbonate is much less soluble in water than calcium bicarbonate it
precipitates out of solution as a solid known as scale or lime scale. Because this
type of hardness is easily removed it is known as temporary hardness.
Water hardness gets stuck to your shower which is soap scum, and gets
attached in your pipes and can cause clogs. Or to your shower head at cause your
hair and body to be dry. Besides, when in cooking scale coats the pan, since the
heat transfer in the pan is not as efficient, what means that while cooking it won't
distribute heat as fast as it should. This basically causes food to either not being
fully cooked or just food taking longer to be cooked.
Hard water is not hazard; it can have some benefits. Humans need minerals
to stay healthy, and the National Research Council (National Academy of Sciences)
states that hard drinking water generally contributes a small amount toward total
calcium and magnesium human dietary needs.

2. THEORY
Natural water becomes hard when it takes on multivalent metallic cations.
The two main cations that cause hard water are the divalent calcium and
magnesium. Water becomes hard when it comes into contact with soils containing
concentrations of these minerals plus carbon dioxide. The water becomes charged
with the carbon dioxide and when it comes in contact with a carbonic acid, and will
dissolve soil particles and rocks. Most particularly is limestone, which contains high
concentrations of calcium carbonate; limestone will break down and release
minerals into water, thus making it hard. The hardness in water is expressed in
terms of calcium carbonate, CaCO3.
In theory the most precise way to calculate hardness is to calculate the
divalent ions in a complete cation analysis. Calculating the divalent ions will enable
you to create a solution to neutralize the positively charged ions and remove
CaCO3. Hard water will prevent soap from creating bubbles, therefore not useful
with procedures that require suds. Also, hard water does not pose a health risk
towards consumers.

3. MATERIALS AND METHODS


We used a 250 ml flask, a three way pipetting ball, a pipet, a buret, a funnel
and wash bottle. As reagents we used a buffer solution for pH 10, Eriochrome Black
T indicator and EDTA, also we used the same reagents in lab one to find the
alkalinity too.
First, we added 20 ml of sample in the 250 ml flask, then we added 2 ml of
buffer solution and 10 drops of the Eriochrome Black T indicator and swirled. With
the EDTA placed in the buret, the titration was done until the red wine color change
to dark. We did this titration twice then did the titration to find the alkalinity.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


The results found are in the following tables.

Table 1. Water sample hardness


Volume (mL)
Items
First
Second
Titration
Titration
Level of EDTA titrant at
starting point
2.4
4.5
Level of EDTA titrant at the
end point
4.5
6.7
Volume of EDTA titrant used
2.6
2.2
Hardness
2.6
2.2
Table 2. Water sample alkalinity
Volume (mL)
Items
First
Second
Titration
Titration
Level of titrant at starting point
9.1
10.9
Level of titrant at pH 4.5 (end point)
10.9
12.5
Volume of titrant used for titration to
pH 4.5
1.8
1.6
Alkalinity
45
40
Table 3. Tap water hardness
Volume (mL)
Items
First
Second
Titration
Titration
Level of EDTA titrant at
starting point
6.7
8.3
Level of EDTA titrant at the
end point
8.3
9.9
Volume of EDTA titrant used
1.6
1.6
Hardness
1.6
1.6
Table 4. Tap water alkalinity
Volume (mL)
Items
First
Second
Titration
Titration
Level of titrant at starting point
12.5
14.2
Level of titrant at pH 4.5 (end point)
14.2
15.8
Volume of titrant used for titration to
pH 4.5
1.7
1.6
Alkalinity
42.5
40

4. CONCLUSIONS

The purpose of our experiment is to determine Water hardness, and water


hardness can be defined as the measure of the amount of calcium and magnesium
salts in water. Calcium and magnesium enter water mainly through the weathering
of rocks. The more calcium and magnesium in water, the harder the water.
Hard water is water that contains large amounts of dissolved calcium and
Magnesium cations, and soft water is water that little or none of the cations. Water
samples with a moderately high hardness rating leaves behind a white ring when
the water is evaporated because the solids are left behind. EDTA and is a useful way
to measure water hardness, but it is not perfect, nor is one necessarily accurate.
There are also methods that can be used to soften water such as using a
commercial water-conditioning agent and cation exchange resin.
In conclusion, the results from this experiment were reasonable. The
hardness of a water sample was successfully discovered by finding the calcium
content in the sample. The hardness of the sample water is 2.4 mg/L as CaCO 3 and
its alkalinity 42.5 mg/L as CaCO 3. The hardness of the tap water is 1.6 mg/L as
CaCO3 and its alkalinity is 41.25 mg/L as CaCO3.

5. REREFENCES
"An Introduction To Water Hardness." ITACA RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.itacanet.org/an-introduction-to-water-hardness/>.
"Water Hardness." Hardness in Water, USGS Water Science School. N.p., n.d. Web.
20 Oct. 2015. <http://water.usgs.gov/edu/hardness.html>.

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