1

In your quest to understand a water treatment schema for a

developing nation, you will need to start at the beginning the
natural source of fresh water. One such natural source of
freshwater, Lake Titicaca, is pictured in Figure 1.1. Lake Titicaca
is the largest freshwater lake in South America and, along with
the rivers of the Lake Titicaca basin, serves as the source of
potable (drinkable) water for areas of Peru and Bolivia. Lake
Titicacas waters look very much like the purified tap water you
and I enjoy; however it is threatened by areas of agriculture,
mining, and even some recent industrialization.
In this activity you will learn more about the composition of natural waters and how water cycles
throughout the biosphere, atmosphere, and geosphere. In doing so, you will review intermolecular and
intramolecular bonds as you apply these old concepts to this new chapter challenge.

Take a look at the sample of pond water one your desk. This may resemble one natural source that you
will face in your purification task. Compare this to the glass of tap water sitting out at your groups table.
What type of substances are found in the pond water sample, both living (biotic) and nonliving
(abiotic)?
How do you think these substances end up in each water sample?
Write your learning objectives for this activity. Refer to the introduction and your experience with the
What Do You Think? questions when forming your objective statement(s).
P a r t A : P a r t A : P a r t A : P a r t A : A n a l y s i s o t n o F l o w o W a t o r A n a l y s i s o t n o F l o w o W a t o r A n a l y s i s o t n o F l o w o W a t o r A n a l y s i s o t n o F l o w o W a t o r
1. In a simplified model of the water cycle, water
is found both on the surface of the Earth, the
biosphere, and in the ground, the geosphere.
This water can move into the atmosphere
through evaporation and transpiration (the
passage of watery vapor through the skin or
through any membrane or pore such as the
stomata of plant tissue). The water in the
atmosphere can return to Earth by
precipitation and condensation. Create a
diagram that depicts all of these elements of
the water cycle.
W

Activity 1: What's n Water?
Tno oomposition o natural wator
P
WHAT DO YOU THI NK? LEARNI NG OBJECTI VES
P R E P R N G
E
REACTI ON THERMODYNAMI CS ADDI NG HEAT
E X P E R M E N T N G
Fig 2.1
Fig 1.1
Fig 1.2
2
2. Take a look at Figure 1.2. As you can see, most of the Earths water is saltwater and is found in
the oceans. A small fraction (2.6%) of the water on Earth is fresh water and most of this (1.98%)
is found in ice caps and glaciers. What other information can you gather from the figure?
3. In your chemistry notebook, write a brief story about how a typical drop of water exists over 100
years. Consider where it would spend a majority of this time. Also, be sure to use the terms
associated with the two figures. Be creative but do your best to accurately represent the life of
drop of water over 100 years.
4. What water sources provide the world with its drinking water? What specific water source
provides your community with its drinking water? Respond to these questions in your chemistry
notebook.
P a r t B : P a r t B : P a r t B : P a r t B : B o o o m i n g a n E x p o r t o n t n o S o l u t o s o W a t o r B o o o m i n g a n E x p o r t o n t n o S o l u t o s o W a t o r B o o o m i n g a n E x p o r t o n t n o S o l u t o s o W a t o r B o o o m i n g a n E x p o r t o n t n o S o l u t o s o W a t o r
In this portion of the activity, you will break your usual groups (home teams) into four expert groups: (I)
minerals, (II) gases, (III) organic compounds, (IV) fertilizers. Expert groups from different home teams
will work together. After completing the experts analysis, each expert returns to the usual home group
and reports findings. Each expert group will investigate one group of solutes present in the natural water
supply by following the set of directions for that expert group.
After following the investigation section, each expert group will prepare an analysis of what theyve done
by creating a handout answering the first Critical Thinking Question normally done at the end of every
activity: (1) What does it mean at the nanoscopic level, macroscopic level, and symbolically? Then, after
your expert group has put together the handout and discussed the experiment with the instructor, you will
return to your original home team and present them with your experiment, its findings, and the handout.
Be sure to present each (macro, nano, symbolic), highlighting the meaning and its possible connection to
the solutes within the natural waters you will eventually have to purify.
I . Sol ubi l i ty of Mi neral s ( Expert Group I )
Surface water and groundwater may encounter many minerals as they move toward a water treatment
facility. Some of these minerals may dissolve in the water, deteriorating the water quality, or even making
it hazardous to consume. Now you will have an opportunity to test some common minerals to see if they
are soluble in water. Your teacher will provide samples of some minerals such as halite, calcite, gypsum,
dolomite, magnesite and pyrite.
Minerals in general are ionic compounds, consisting of positive or negative atomic ions or collections of
atoms carrying positive or negative charge, called polyatomic ions. When an ionic compound dissolves
in water, each of the ions is surrounded by the polar water molecules, effectively separating it from the
other ions. The table below shows the ions that make up each of the minerals. You should check
agreement with the neutrality rule that the sum of the charges on all of the positively-charged ions and the
negatively-charged ions in a compound must be zero.
1. Obtain a sample of each mineral from your instructor.
2. Copy the table below into your notebook. If you have extra or different minerals, add or substitute
their names, chemical formulas, and positive (cation) and negative (anion) ions in the table.
Tabl e 1. 1: Common mi neral s ef f ect i ng nat ural wat ers
Mineral Formula Cation Anion
Observation of
Solubility (Y or N)
Halite NaCl Na
+
Cl
-

Calcite CaCO
3
Ca
2+
CO
3
2-

Gypsum CaSO
4
2H
2
O

Ca
2+
SO
4
2-

Dolomite CaMg(CO
3
)
2
Ca
2+
, Mg
2+
CO
3
2-

Magnesite MgCO
3
Mg
2+
CO
3
2-

Pyrite FeS
2
Fe
2+
S
2-


3. Use a mortar and pestle to grind a small sample of each of the minerals provided into a powder.
3
4. Test the solubility of each mineral in water by observing if a very small amount of a ground
sample of the mineral seems to disappear into the water as the test tube is shaken. Record the
results in you chemistry notebook.
5. Compare your results to a table of solubility rules in the text (check back to previous activities
youve done involving solubility). Do these minerals follow the solubility rules? Write down your
thoughts in your chemistry notebook.
I I . Forms of Gases i n Sol ut i on ( Expert Group I I )
While it may not be what first comes to mind when you think of the solutes in water, gases such as
nitrogen (N
2
), oxygen (O
2
), carbon dioxide (CO
2
), sulfur dioxide (SO
2
), and ammonia (NH
3
) are all part of
natural waters. Without these gases dissolved in water fish wouldnt get the oxygen they need to survive
and underwater plants wouldnt get the carbon dioxide they need for photosynthesis!
Our concern at this point is what happens as these covalently bonded gas molecules dissolve in water.
To observe this change, we will monitor the pH, a measure of a solutions acidity, using universal
indicator (UI). Table I shows how the color of UI is related to pH.
1. Copy the following table into your Notebook.
Tabl e 1. 2: Forms of gases i n sol ut i ons
Gas Formula Final UI color pH in Solution
carbon dioxide
sulfur dioxide
ammonia (predicted) (predicted)
2. Fill one of the wells of your spot plate with UI.
3. You will next need to generate CO
2
, carbon dioxide. To do this, take approximately 2.00 grams
of the calcium carbonate (CaCO
3
) and place it in a Ziploc bag. Squeeze out all of the air out of
the bag and seal it almost all the way.
4. In the small opening, add two droppers full (whole droppers full not drops) of hydrochloric acid
(HCl). Completely seal the bag and shake gently.
5. As it fills with carbon dioxide gas, you will collect some of it with a plastic pipet. To do this first
squeeze all of the air out of the pipet. Slide it, still squeezed, into the bag using the tip to open
the bag slightly. Lastly, release the pipet and let it collect the carbon dioxide gas.
6. Bubble the carbon dioxide gas in the spot plate of UI. Record the pH after the bubbling in your
Notebook.
7. Fill another one of the spot plates with UI.
8. If your instructor has not prepared a sulfur dioxide solution, you will need to generate SO
2
, sulfur
dioxide. Sulfur dioxide is a toxic gas. Please be careful when generating this. You should work
with your bag under the hood. When finished, leave this bag under the hood sealed only use it
to extract the small sample of SO
2
.
9. Place about 2.00 grams of sodium sulfite (Na
2
SO
2
) in the bottom corner of your Ziploc bag.
Squeeze out all of the air out of the bag and seal it almost all the way.
10. In the small opening, add two droppers full (whole droppers full not drops) of sulfuric acid
(H
2
SO
4
). Sulfuric acid is caustic; be careful when handling this chemical. Seal the bag
immediately.
11. As it fills with gas, you will collect some of it with a plastic pipet. To do this first squeeze all of the
air out of the pipet. Slide it, still squeezed, into the bag using the tip to open the bag slightly.
Lastly, release the pipet and let it collect the sulfur dioxide gas.
12. Bubble the carbon dioxide gas in the spot plate of UI. Record the pH after the bubbling in your
notebook.
4
13. When gases dissolve in water, they react with the water to form polyatomic ions. For example,
when CO
2
dissolves in water, we represent it by CO
2(aq)
. The (aq) represents that the substance
is aqueous or in solution with water. Once in solution, it can react with the water to form the
bicarbonate ion, HCO
3

, and acidic hydrogen ion, H

+
, according to the equation:
CO
2(aq)
+ H
2
O HCO
3

(aq)
+ H
+
(aq)

In your Notebook, write a complete reaction for aqueous sulfur dioxide and water. You may want
to use a polyatomic ion chart to help you predict this reaction.
14. Other gases have different effects on the pH of the solution. Complete the following equation for
aqueous ammonia (NH
3(aq)
), using a polyatomic ion chart as a guide:
NH
3(aq)
+ H
2
O
15. In your table, fill in your predictions for what would happen if ammonia was bubbled into universal
indicator. Use the equation above and your knowledge of pH to help you in your prediction.
III. Solubility of Organic Compounds (Expert Group III)
Natural waters interact with a number of organic compounds, some from natural sources and others
from human interaction with the environment. All of organic compounds are formed by the sharing of
electrons by non-metal atoms. In other words, organic compounds have covalent bonds between the
non-metal atoms. In addition, organic compounds contain the element carbon covalently bond to
hydrogen or other elements such as oxygen, sulfur, or nitrogen.
1. Obtain the sample vials of the organic compounds from your instructor. Each vial contains
approximately 0.10g of the organic compound.
2. Copy the following table into your Notebook. If your instructor has given you extra or different
organic compounds, add or substitute their names and chemical formulas.
Tabl e 1. 3: Sol ubi l i t y of organi c compounds
Organic
Compound
Chemical Formula
Observation of
Solubility
Ethanol CH
3
CH
2
OH
1-hexanol CH
3
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
OH
n-hexane CH
3
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
3

n-octane CH
3
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
3

Urea (NH
2
)
2
CO
Glucose CH2(OH)CH(OH)CH(OH)CH(OH)CH(OH)CHO
oleic acid CH
3
(CH
2
)
7
CH=CH(CH
2
)
7
COOH
ethylene glycol CH
2
(OH)CH
2
OH
The structural formula is being used here. As the chain of molecules gets longer, the solubility decreases
and if you increase the number of hydroxyl units (-OH) the solubility will increase.
3. Add 3.0 mL of water to the 0.10g sample of each compound provided in a vial by your instructor.
Cap with a stopper or top and carefully mix each vial.
4. Record the appearance of the mixture in your notebook, noting if the substance is soluble, slightly
soluble, or insoluble.
5. Review each result and the corresponding chemical formula. In your Notebook, write a
suggestion for why some of these organic compounds are so much more soluble than others.

5
IV. Fertilizers in Water (Expert Group IV)
Plants require three primary mineral nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Those in agriculture
provide these primary nutrients to plants through soluble ionic compounds. Some commercial fertilizers
containing these elements are: ammonium nitrate (NH
4
NO
3
), calcium superphosphate (Ca(H
2
PO
4
)
2
) and
potassium carbonate (K
2
CO
3
).
In your expert group, you will first need to know how we measure the amount of a substance dissolved in
water. The most common way to refer to the amount of a substance in water is to give the mass in
milligrams of the substance (solute) in each liter of water. We use the unit notation mg/L and call this
amount the concentration of the substance. Another unit used for expressing the concentration is parts
per million, ppm. It turns out the concentration expressed in mg/L has the same numerical value when
expressed in ppm for water solutions.
Each of the ionic compounds in fertilizer has its own solubility in water at a specific temperature. You will
experimentally determine the solubility of one of these compounds.
1. Add 10.0 mL of deionized water to a clean, large test tube.
2. Measure the water temperature and record it in your notebook.
3. Mass the container of fertilizer with the lid and record this in your notebook.
4. Carefully add solid fertilizer to the water until no more solid will dissolve.
5. Measure the temperature of the solution. If the temperature changed as the solid dissolved, wait
for it to settle close to its initial value.
6. Try adding a little more solid until no more will dissolve, again.
7. Determine the mass of the solid added by re-massing the container of fertilizer and subtracting
from the original mass of the fertilizer container.
8. If you have time, repeat.
9. Convert your g/10mL of water values to ppm (mg/L of water) and M (mol/L). Show your
mathematical steps and your value in your notebook.
P o a d i n g : P o a d i n g : P o a d i n g : P o a d i n g : W n a t ' s i n t n o W a t o r W n a t ' s i n t n o W a t o r W n a t ' s i n t n o W a t o r W n a t ' s i n t n o W a t o r

Tno Hydrol ogi oal Cyol o Tno Hydrol ogi oal Cyol o Tno Hydrol ogi oal Cyol o Tno Hydrol ogi oal Cyol o
In order to realize what impurities might be present in the water supply before it enters a water treatment
plant, we have to trace the pathways water takes in cycling around the globe. The collection of pathways
is called the hydrologic cycle, and it includes:
flowing surface water in oceans, lakes, reservoirs, rivers and streams,
frozen water in snow and glaciers,
atmospheric water as vapor and as droplets in clouds and rain, and
groundwater in underground aquifers running through porous rocks.
In addition to flowing between regions as a liquid, water can be transported by evaporation or sublimation
from a liquid or solid to vapor, or in the reverse direction by condensation followed by precipitation. As
figure 1.2 illustrates, water available for purification comes from both the surface fresh waters and ground
waters. The water available for purification from groundwater or lakes and rivers is being depleted rapidly
in some regions, largely by irrigation of crops. Once depleted, the aquifers that contained large amounts
A
READI NG WHAT DO YOU THI NK NOW? QUESTI ONS
N L Y Z N G
6
of groundwater are replenished much more slowly through the hydrological cycle than surface water
because of the slow movement of water underground.

Wat or as a Sol vont Wat or as a Sol vont Wat or as a Sol vont Wat or as a Sol vont





Water is a unique molecule because of both its polar covalent bonds between the individual molecules
atoms and its hydrogen bonds that form between different molecules of water in a solution. These
bonds result in water having four properties that allow for life to exist on this planet: the cohesive nature of
water molecules, ability to moderate temperature (heat capactity), the low denisty of ice (ice floats in
water), and, as we have seen from the vast number of solutes in this activity, waters remarkable ability to
act as a solvent.

Specifically, the attraction between water molecules can be attributed to the polarization of the O-H bond,
which aligns the negative O end to be near a more positive H atom in another water molecule. That
partially positive H atom is attracted the partially negative O atom of the other water molecule. That
attraction is referred to as a hydrogen bond. Figure 1.3 illustrates these attractions which make water
such a powerful natural solvent.

Tabl e 1. 4: EN di f f erences and resul t i ng bond t ypes
EN Difference Bond Type
Greater than 2.0 Ionic Bond
1.6 2.0 Polar Covalent (if both nonmetals)/Ionic (if one
is a metal)
0.5 1.6 Polar Covalent Bond
Less than 0.5 Nonpolar Covalent Bond

In general, the more ionic a compound is, the more readily it dissolves in water. This is because of the
strong interaction of the water dipole with either positive or negative ions. We can make predictions about
how ionic a compound is by referring to the electronegativities of each individual atom. The
electronegativity is a semi-quantitative way of assessing the electron withdrawing strength of an
element when it bonds to other elements. Each elements electronegativity can be found in your Active
Chemistry periodic table. A greater difference of electronegativities gives a more ionic bond (See Table
1.1). Ionic compounds with multiple charges on the ions or small ions may have limited solubility because
of the large energy required to separate the ions in the solid.
Covalent bonds are formed between elements when neither element attracts the electrons located
between the atoms much more strongly than the other. Electron sharing is a characteristic of covalent
bonds. Elements with similar electronegativities are likely to form covalent bonds. A compound having
only covalent bonds is called a covalent compound.

7
Since the electrons involved in covalent bonding need not be equally shared, most covalent bonds show
some degree of polarization, which means that one end of the bond is more negatively charged than the
other end. The C-H bond, which is a characteristic of organic molecules, has very little polarization
because the electronegativities of C (2.5) and H (2.1) are similar. Compounds containing mostly C-H
bonds are insoluble or only partially soluble in water because the water molecules are more strongly
attracted to each other than to the compound. Covalent compounds can interact strongly with water if
they have groups like OH and NH that can also form hydrogen bonds with water molecules.

The above principles can be used to explain solubility rules that emerge from sampling a large number of
ionic and covalent compounds. Here is a collection of some of the solubility guidelines:
Soluble compounds contain NO
3

, CH
3
COO

, halide ions (F

, Cl

, Br

and I

unless they are paired with

Ag
+
, Hg
2
2+
and Pb
2+
) and SO
4
2
(exceptions are with Sr
2+
, Ba
2+
, Hg
2
2+
and Pb
2+
).
Insoluble compounds contain S
2
(exceptions are with NH
4
+
, Group1 cations and Group 2 cations),
CO
3
2
(exceptions are with NH
4
+
and group 1 cations), PO
4
3
(exceptions are with NH
4
+
and group 1
cations) and OH

(exceptions are with group 1 cations and group 2 cations).

Organic compounds have limited solubility in water unless polar groups can dominate their interaction
with water molecules. The more OH groups an organic molecule has, the larger is its solubility.

Wat or i n t no Nat ural Worl d Wat or i n t no Nat ural Worl d Wat or i n t no Nat ural Worl d Wat or i n t no Nat ural Worl d
Because water is such a wonderful solvent, it ends up picking up many natural and synthetic chemicals
from the environment. Despite the adoption of stricter controls on sewage treatment and industrial
discharges, pollution of waterways continues to occur. Water also serves as an ideal medium for the
growth of numerous microbes, which can feed or infect higher forms of life. In short, the simple answer to
whats in the water? is practically everything on earth that the water contacts.

You might wonder how we could ever hope to remove all the impurities in water, or if we have to remove
all of them. Nature actually helps in many ways. Most of the salts and other impurities in ocean water are
left behind when the water evaporates, although rainwater near the coasts tends to have a much higher
salt content than inland because spray from the ocean can be carried into clouds. In wetlands, sometimes
referred to as natures kidneys, microorganisms and plants can remove many harmful chemicals
through their natural processes. Likewise, in percolating slowly through soil on its way to aquifers, water
sheds many impurities. Also, suspended material can settle out in reservoirs or be broken down by
oxidation as water takes up more oxygen in turbulent streams. However with increasing urbanization and
drainage of wetlands, rapid runoff of water subverts the remaining natural purification mechanisms.
Drainage of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides from agricultural fields and residential lawns has
increasingly sent hazardous chemicals into water supplies. In the long run, it will be more economical to
prevent the runoff from occurring rather than to try to remove the contaminants by water treatment, but for
the purposes of your Chapter Challenge, we will just focus in on treating natural waters.

In this activity we have introduced some primary contaminants which must be removed to protect our
health and other secondary contaminants which may deteriorate water quality but do not make it unsafe
to consume. The distribution of both types of contaminants will vary greatly from one locale to another.
For example, river water or groundwater is likely to have much higher amounts of dissolved metal and
carbonate ions because of the water having contacted minerals. Dissolution of most minerals also
increases in areas with acidic water. SO
2
and NO
2
dissolving in water or discharges from mining or other
industries may make water supplies acidic. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set
maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for all contaminants that it requires water treatment plants to
monitor. A complete table of drinking water standards is available at the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency website: http://www.epa.gov/ost/drinking/standards/dwstandards.pdf as well as in the appendix of
the text. The agency has also established Secondary Drinking Water Regulations (SDWR), which are
non-enforceable federal drinking water guidelines regarding cosmetic effects (such as tooth or skin
discoloration) or aesthetic effects (such as taste, odor or color).
Q u o s t i o n s : Q u o s t i o n s : Q u o s t i o n s : Q u o s t i o n s : W n a t ' s i n t n o W a t o r W n a t ' s i n t n o W a t o r W n a t ' s i n t n o W a t o r W n a t ' s i n t n o W a t o r

1. Why is it important to consider what happens on land, such as farming, when considering a water
supply? How is this connected to the hydrological cycle?

8
2. Name 3 characteristics of a water supply would make it unusable? Which of these characteristics
arise from human activities?

3. Characterize the following compounds as soluble or insoluble in water: Ca
3
(PO
4
)
2
, SrSO
4
, ZnCl
2
,
CaS, CuS and Na
2
CO
3
.

4. Give a reason why some parts of our country have greater amounts of substances dissolved in
their groundwater?

5. Methane, which has the formula CH
4
, is insoluble in water. Explain why this natural gas is not
soluble in water.

6. Industrial factories and urban areas have a history of producing excess of sulfur dioxide gas,
among other pollutants. Explain how these gases would change the original water supply in
these areas.

7. Look up the real value for the solubility of the fertilizer compound in the fourth expert group (the
CRC is an excellent resource for this). What was the percent error of that group?

7. The MCLs for fluoride (F

) and nitrate (NO

3

) ions are given below. Express these values in

ppm and M (mol/L).
a. F

MCL = 0.0040 g/L
b. NO
3
-
MCL = 0.0100 g/L
W n a t d o o s t n o a o t i v i t y m o a n W n a t d o o s t n o a o t i v i t y m o a n W n a t d o o s t n o a o t i v i t y m o a n W n a t d o o s t n o a o t i v i t y m o a n ? ? ? ?
Chemistry explains the macroscopic phenomenon (what you observe) with and explanation of what
happens at the nanoscopic level (atoms and molecules) using symbolic structures as a way to
communicate. Explain the meaning of this activity by completing the MNS table.

M A C R O N A N O S Y M B O L I C
Youve done four of these through the activity (each expert group has done one). That should be
enough here!

H o w d o k n o w ? H o w d o k n o w ? H o w d o k n o w ? H o w d o k n o w ?
Making specific reference to your data, observations, and the terms from this activity, explain what
solutes you may expect to find in your water.

W n y d o b o l i o v o ? W n y d o b o l i o v o ? W n y d o b o l i o v o ? W n y d o b o l i o v o ?
What bigger department understanding does this activity relate to? Pick one specific understanding
and explain in detail the connection (and show how it built throughout the other units).

W n y d o o a r o ? W n y d o o a r o ? W n y d o o a r o ? W n y d o o a r o ?
What questions would you want to know about your developing nation to best predict their water
issues?

CT
MEAN? KNOW? BELI EVE? CARE?
C R T C L L Y T H N K N G