WATER & ITS TREATMENT

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HARDNESS OF WATER (mineral matter)

Hardness of water is that characteristic which prevents the
lathering of soap. This is due to presence of certain salts
of Ca, Mg & other heavy metals dissolved in water. This
water when treated with soap (Na or K salts of higher
fatty acids like, oleic palmitic, or stearic) forms a white
scum or ppt of insoluble soaps of Ca & Mg
Other metal ions like Fe2+, Mn2+, and Al3+ also react with
soap in a similar manner, thus contributing to water
hardness
Hardness is expressed in terms of equivalent amount of
CaCO3 (mg/L). It is the most insoluble salt
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HARDNESS OF WATER
2C17H35COONa + CaCl2 (C17H35COO)2Ca
2NaCl

2C17H35COONa + MgSO4 (C17H35COO)2Mg +

Na2SO4

The hardness of water is of two types:

1. Temporary or carbonate or alkaline hardness

2. Permanent or non-carbonate or non-alkaline hardness

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Temporary/Carbonate/Alkaline Hardness
Temporary hardness is caused by the less soluble
carbonates and bicarbonates of Ca & Mg & other
heavy metals & the carbonate of iron

Temporary hardness can be removed by boiling water

when bicarbonates are decomposed, yielding
insoluble carbonates or hydroxides

Ca(HCO3)2

Mg(HCO3)2

CaCO3 + H2O + CO2

insoluble

Mg(OH)2 + 2CO2
insoluble

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Permanent/Non-carbonate/Non-Alkaline Hardness
Permanent hardness is due to the more soluble
chlorides, sulfates,nitrates of Ca, Mg, Fe, and other
heavy metals

Permanent hardness cannot be removed by boiling of

water
Softening methods are used

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Disadvantages of using hard water

Domestic use:
i.

Washing : no lather formation ,wastage of soap

ii. Bathing: no lather formation. Also the resulting ppt sticks on

body
iii. Cooking: due to dissolved salts boiling point of water is
elevated, causing unnecessarily wastage of time & fuel.

iv: Drinking: bad effect on metabolic system. Calcium oxalate

stones may develop in urinary tracts, if used regularly. Also it
causes deposition of Ca in the bone joints.

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Industrial use:
i: Textiles: loss of soaps during washing of yarn, & fabrics. Ppt
sticks on fabric & dyeing is not uniform. Also Fe, Mn etc salts
leave colored spots on fabrics
ii. Sugar: crystallization of sugar is affected.
iii: Paper: react with chemicals to provide smooth & glossy
finishing to paper. Iron salts add unwarranted color in paper.
iv. Pharmaceuticals: undesirable products may be produced in
medicines
v. Problems from Boiler feed water (scales and sludge
formation, corrosion, caustic embrittlement etc)
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Water Hardness: Determination with EDTA

Water is said to be hard when it contains Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions.
These ions react with soap to form an insoluble substance
called soap scum.
Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions along with other metal ions such as Fe3+
and Pb2+ can be removed from hard water by the addition of
EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid).
EDTA has a greater affinity for Ca2+ and Mg2+ when it is in the
form of the dihydrogen anion H2EDTA2-. This is the ionic form of
EDTA at pH 10.
H2EDTA2-

dihydrogen ethylenediaminetetraacetate ion

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 H2EDTA2- binds to a Ca2+ ion by forming four special covalent

bonds called coordinate covalent bonds.

2 H+

Ca2+

H2EDTA2-

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Ca2+ ion chelated

by EDTA

Determination of Hardness:
Step1: EDTA solution is standardized with standard
hard water
Step2: EDTA is used to titrate unknown hard water
sample
Total hardness of water.pdf

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Water Hardness: Determination with EDTA

Procedure (Titration of Blank)

Use a volumetric pipet to dispense 25.00 mL of

deionized water (DI) into a 250 mL flask.
Add 5 mL of pH 10 buffer, 2 drops of Eriochrome
Black T indicator.
Titrate the solution with EDTA from your buret. As
you near the endpoint, the solution will turn purple.
Continue to slowly add EDTA until the solution
turns blue, with no trace of red.
beginning
color

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nearing
endpoint

endpoint
color

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Water Hardness: Determination with EDTA

Procedure (Titration of Sample)

Use a volumetric pipet to dispense 50.00 mL of
your hard water sample into a 250 mL flask.
Add 5 mL of pH 10 buffer, 2 drops of Eriochrome
Black T indicator.
Titrate the solution with EDTA from your buret to
the blue endpoint you observed when titrating
the blank.
endpoint
color

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Problems on EDTA Method

1) 0.5 g of CaCO3 was dissolved in HCl and the solution made up to 500 ml with
distilled water. 50 ml of this solution require 48 ml of EDTA solution for titration. 50 ml
hard water sample require 15 ml of EDTA and after boiling and filtering required 10 ml
EDTA solution. Calculate all hardness.
Solution:
Step I : Let us of all simplify the strength of Std. Hard water
500 ml of SHW = 0.5 g of CaCO3= 500 mg CaCO3 eq.
therefore , 1 ml SHW= 1 mg of CaCO3
Step II: Standardization of EDTA solution with SHW
48 ml of EDTA require = 50 ml of SHW
= 50 mg of CaCO3 eq
therefore ,1 ml of EDTA solution = 50/48 mg of CaCO3
Step III : Calculation of hardness ( Titration of EDTA solution with hard water sample).
i) Total Hardness( before boiling )

50 ml of hard water sample = 15 ml of EDTA solution

= 15x(50/48) mg of CaCO3
therefore., 1 lit of hard water = 15x(50/48)x1000/50 mg of CaCO3 per lit
=
mg/lit =
PPM

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ii) Permanent Hardness ( Boiled water)

50 ml hard water sample = 10 ml EDTA solution
= 10 x(50/48 ) mg CaCO3
Therefor, 1 lit sample = 10x (50/48)x (1000/50) mg CaCO3/ Lit
=
mg CaCO3/ Lit = PPM
iii) Temporary Hardness= Total Permanent
2) 25 ml of CaCl2 solution ( strength 250 mg CaCO3 per 200 ml), required 35 ml EDTA
solution. Some EDTA solution was used to titrate 25 ml of unknown hard water which
consumed 30 ml of EDTA solution. Calculate hardness of water sample.
Solution:
Step I: Calculate strength of SHW as follows,
Strength of CaCl2 solution= 250 mg of CaCO3 per 200 ml
therefore, 1 ml of CaCl2 = 250/200 mg of CaCO3 per ml
therefore, 25 ml of CaCl2= 250/200 x 25 mg of CaCO3 .= -------- mg of CaCO3

Step II: Standardization of EDTA solution with SHW

35 ml of EDTA require = 25 ml of CaCl2 solution

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Therefore, 1 ml of EDTA =

mg of CaCO3
mg of CaCO3

14

Step III) Calculation of Hardness

25 ml of Hard water = 30 ml EDTA
= 30 x
mg ofCaCO3
Therefore, 1 Lit SHW= 30 x
x 1000/25 mg of CaCO3/lit
=
PPM

3) 50 ml of SHW (1.2 gCaCO3/lit) require 32 ml of EDTA solution . 100 ml of water

consumes 14 ml EDTA solution. 100 ml of boiled and filtered water . Sample consumes
8.5 ml EDTA solution. Calculate hardness of the sample.

Solution :
Step I: Strength of Hard Water
Step II : Standardisation of EDTA solution .
StepIII : Calculate Hardness, total, permanent and temporary .

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Treatment of hard water

External: using water softening method
Internal: is a corrective treatment for the removal of
some impurities left out in the external treatment
Internal treatment involves addition of certain chemicals
to the boiler water
The added chemicals either precipitate the scale forming
impurities as a sludge (which can be removed by a blowdown operation) OR the added chemical convert the
scale forming impurities into compounds that stay in the
dissolved form in the boiler thereby causing no harm
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External Treatment
External Treatment ( Softening methods): The
process of removing hardness causing salts from
water is called as softening of water. Mainly the
following three methods are used for softening:
Lime soda process
Zeolite or permutit process
Ion exchange or deionization or demineralization
process

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Lime soda process

Principle: In this method hard water is treated with
calculated amounts of slaked lime [Ca(OH)2] Soda
ash [Na2CO3] in reaction tanks, so as to convert
hardness producing chemicals into insoluble
compounds which are then removed by settling &
filtration.
Usually 10% extra chemical is added for better
results.
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Lime soda process

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Lime Soda Process

Lime removes hardness due to temporary Calcium &
all types of magnesium hardness.
Lime react with free acids, Fe, Al salts, CO2 gas &
produce extra calcium hardness.
Soda removes all the soluble permanent hardness due
to calcium salts (i.e. that which is present originally
as well as that which is introduced during removal of
Mg2+ , Fe2+ , Al3+ , HCl, H2SO4, CO2 etc by lime )
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Reactions with Lime

Lime removes free acids

2HCl + Ca(OH)2 CaCl2 + 2H2O

H2SO4 + Ca(OH)2 CaSO4 + 2H2O
Lime removes temporary hardness
Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + 2H2O
Mg(HCO3)2 + 2Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + Mg(OH)2 + 2H2O

Lime removes permanent hardness

MgCl2/MgSO4 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaCl2/CaSO4

Lime removes dissolved iron and aluminium salts

Al2(SO4)3 + 3Ca(OH)2 2Al(OH)3 + 3CaSO4
FeSO4 + Ca(OH)2 Fe(OH)2 + CaSO4

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Reactions with Soda

Removes all soluble permanent hardness due to Ca salts
CaCl2 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + 2NaCl
CaSO4 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + Na2SO4

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 Amount of Lime required = 74/100 [temp Ca

hardness + (2 temp. Mg hardness) + perm Mg

hardness + Salts like Fe, Al + CO2 + Acids + HCO3- NaAlO2 ] volume of water 100/ % purity
Amount of Soda = 106/100 [perm Ca hardness +
perm Mg hardness + Salts like Fe, Al + Acids HCO3- ] volume of water 100/ % purity

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The chemical reactions taking place during lime

soda treatment are slow & ppt of CaCO3 &
Mg(OH)2 are fine & produce super-saturated
solution. As a result after deposition occurs in
pipes, boiler tubes etc clogging the valves &
leading to corrosion. To avoid this;

Thorough mixing of chemicals & hard water.

Sufficient time allowed to complete reactions

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 Accelerators i.e. Substances that bring down the fine

particles of precipitates e.g. Activated charcoal
Coagulants i.e. Substances which help in the
formation of coarse precipitates are added e.g. alum
Proper sedimentation chamber for precipitation to
settle, before filtration being carried out

Process is carried out at room temperature & at

temperature between 500C- 1500C

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Cold lime Soda process

When the chemicals are added at room temperature.
At this temperature the precipitates are finely divided
& do not settle easily, nor they can be filtered. It is
necessary therefore to add coagulants like alum,
sodium aluminate etc

NaAlO2 + 2H2O NaOH + Al(OH)3

This process provides water containing a residual
hardness of 50-to 60 ppm.
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Hot Lime Soda Process

When the chemicals are added at higher

temperature 80 0C to 150 0C the process is
known as Hot process. At higher temperature
reactions are fast
precipitation is more complete
settling rate & filtration rates are increased
So less amount of chemicals are needed.
Hot-Lime soda process produces water of
comparatively lower residual hardness of 1530
ppm
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Advantages of Soda lime process

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Very economical
pH is increased , there by corrosion is reduced
to a certain extent iron & manganese are also
reduced.
Disadvantages:
Hardness after Cold process is about 50 ppm & 30
ppm by Hot process. These values are high for
pressure boilers.
Careful operation & skilled supervision is required
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Zeolite Permutit Process

Hydrated sodium alumino silicate Na2O.Al2O3.x
SiO2.yH2O

Zeolites is capable of exchanging reversibly their

sodium ions for hardness producing ions in water.
Natural Zeolites : are non-porous more durable & are
derived from green sands.
Synthetic Zeolites : porous & possess gel structure &
have higher exchange capacity per unit weight.
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 Theory: When hard water is passed over a bed

of sodium zeolite , Ca2+ , Mg2+ ions are taken
up by the zeolite simultaneously releasing
equivalent Na+ ions in exchange for them.

CaCl2 + Na2Z CaZ + 2NaCl

MgSO4 + Na2Z MgZ + Na2SO4

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 Regeneration: When Zeolite is completely

converted into calcium & magnesium Zeolites,
it ceases to soften water i.e. it gets exhausted.
It is generated by treating with 10% brine
solution.
CaZe + 2NaCl Na2Ze + CaCl2
MgZe + 2NaCl Na2Ze

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+ MgCl2

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 Process: Hard water enters from top at a specified rate &

passes over a bed of sodium zeolite kept in a cylinder.
Softened water is collected at the bottom of cylinder & is taken
out from time to time.

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Limitations:

Turbid water should not be admitted, otherwise it

will block the pores of zeolite & make them
inactive.

Any colored Fe ions must be removed earlier

because, it is difficult to regenerate it from iron
zeolite.

Mineral acid present in water must be neutralized

earlier with soda otherwise that may destroy
zeolite bed.

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Advantages:
Water of about 10 ppm hardness is produced.
Process automatically adjusts itself for
different hardness of incoming water.

Requires less skill in maintenance as well as

operation.

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Disadvantages:

Treated water contains more sodium salts

The method only replaces Ca2+ & Mg2+ ions by

Na+ ions, but leaves all (HCO3 - & CO3 --) in
soft water. Such soft water containing NaHCO3 ,
Na2CO3 etc when used in boilers , NaHCO3
decomposes to give CO2 which cause boiler
corrosion & Na2CO3 hydrolyses to NaOH
causing Caustic Embrittlement.

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Problems on Zeolite Process:

1) A Zeolite bed on softening 8000 litres of hard water, required 60 litres of 10% NaCl
solution for regeneration . Calculate hardness of water sample in PPM.
Solution :
Hint: Find out of amount of NaCl in brine solution used in process & then convert
it in to CaCO3 equi.
Step I:
Amount of NaCl consumed by Zeolite bed=10% NaCl
= 100 g/ Lit
So, 60 liter solution contain= 60 x 100= 6000 g of NaCl
Step II:
Convert it into CaCO3 equi.
6000 g of NaCl= 6000x 50/58.5 g of CaCO3 equi.
= 5128.20 g of CaCO3 equi.
Step III:
Zeolite bed on softening 8000 litres of hard water, required 60 litres of 10% NaCl
Which is equivalent to 5128.20 g of CaCO3 equi.
8000 liter hard water contain= 5128.20 g of CaCO3 equi.
Therefore, 1 lit = 5128.20x 1000 mg of CaCO3
8000
Hardness of water sample = 641.0 mg of CaCO3 = 641.0 PPM
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2) A Zeolite bed get exhausted after softening 4000 lits of water. Hardness of water was
250 mgs CaCO3 equivalent per lit. Calculate the volume of 10%NaCl solution required
to regenerate the Zeolite bed.
Solution:
First of all calculate the qty of total NaCl consumed in process by assuming V volume of
10% NaCl
Step I : 10% NaCl= 100 g/Lit
Therefore, Total NaCl consumed in process= 100 V g NaCl
Step II: Convert it into CaCO3 equi.
100 V g of NaCl = 100 V X 50/58.5 g of CaCO3 equi.
Step III: Hardness of water = 250 mg/Lit
So, total hardness of 4000 litre of water= 4000 x250
1000
= 1000 g of CaCO3 equi
Now,
100 V X 50/58.5 = 1000
V= 1000x 58.5 = 11.7 lit of NaCl
100 x 50
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3) An exhausted Zeolite softener was regenerated by using 40 litr of 20% brine solution .
How many litr of hard water sample having hardness of 600 ppm can be softened using
the softner.
Solution:
Step I: 20% NaCl= 200 g/Lit
Therfore, 40 lit solution= 40 x 200 g of NaCl= 8000 g og NaCl
Step II:
8000 g of NaCl = 8000 x 50/58.5 g of CaCO3 equi.
= -----X---Step III:
Assume , V lit of water was purified
Since hardness of water sample = 600 PPM of CaCO3 equi
So, total hardness of total water= 600 V mg of CaCO3
= 0.6 V g of CaCO3
Now, X = 0.6 V
V= X/V =

Total

Lit of water

lit of can be softened by using this bed.

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Ion Exchange Process

In this process, a reversible exchange of ions occur
between the stationary ion-exchange phase & the external
liquid phase.
Ion exchange resins are insoluble , cross-linked, long
chain organic polymers which are permeable due to their
micro porous structure & functional group attached to the
chain are involved in the ion exchanging process.

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42

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Cation exchange resins

These are capable of exchanging rapidly
cations like Ca2+ / Mg2 + by H+ ions. E.g.
sulphonated coals, tannins, formaldehyde
resins, amberlite IR-120 etc
RH2 + Ca2+ / Mg2 + RCa/Mg + 2H+

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Anion exchange resins

These are capable of exchanging rapidly
anions (Cl - , SO4 --) by OH- ions e.g. aminoformaldehyde resins, copolymer of styrene &
di vinyl benzene, amberlite-400, Zeolite-FF etc

R(OH)2 + H2SO4 RSO4 + 2H2O

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Process
Hard water is first passed through cation exchange
bed which removes all cations like Ca2+ , Mg2+ ,
Na+ & release H+ ions. Thus Cl - , SO4 --, OH- are
converted into corresponding acids HCl, H2SO4, &
H2CO3
After this the acidic hard water is passed through an
anion exchange bed which removes all anions present
in water & equivalent amount of OH- ions is released
from it to form water.
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 H+ & OH- ions combine to give ion- free

water molecules called De-ionized or Demineralized water.
The water is finally freed from dissolved gases
by passing it through a de- gasifier the water
obtained by this process is very near to distill
water.
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Regeneration
When ion exchange capacities are lost ( resins are
exhausted) the supply of water is stopped. The
exhausted cation exchanger i.e. regenerated by
passing dilute HCl or H2SO4.
RCa or RMg + 2HCl 2RH + CaCl2 or MgCl2

The exchange bed is washed with de-ionized water &

washings( contained Ca2+ , Mg2+ Cl - , SO4 --,) is
passed to sink or drain.
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 The exhausted anion exchanger is regenerated by

treating it with a dilute NaOH solution.

RCl2 + 2NaOH

R(OH)2

+ 2NaCl

The exchanged bed is washed with de ionized water

& washings( containing NaCl, Na2SO4 ) is passed to
sink.
The regenerated ion-exchange resins are used again.

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 Advantages:
(i) The process can be used to soften highly acidic or
alkaline water,

(ii) Water of low hardness(2 ppm) thus very good for

high pressure boilers.
Disadvantages:

(i) The equipment is costly

(ii) Turbidity should be below 10 ppm

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Drinking Water Purification

Municipalities supply potable water that is safe for human

consumption.

Drinking water should pass the following specifications:

1.

It should be sparkling clear and odorless

2.

It should be pleasant to taste

3.

It should be cool

4.

The total dissolved solids (TDS) should be less than 500 ppm

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Drinking Water Purification

Drinking water should pass the following specifications:

5.

It should be free of H2S gas

6.

It should be free of mineral such as Pb, As, Cr, Mn salts

7.

It should have low alkalinity and a pH value of about 8

8.

It should be reasonably soft and free of disease producing microorganisms

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Drinking Water Purification

Drinking water purification consists of:
A. Removal of suspended impurities: which involves

1) Screening, 2) Sedimentation, 3) Filtration

B. Removal of micro-organisms: which involves following methods

used for destroying the disease causing micro-organisms

1) Boiling, 2) Addition of bleaching powder, 3) Chlorination
4) Addition of Chloramine (ClNH2), 5) Ozonization 6) Desalination
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Drinking Water Purification

B. Removal of micro-organisms:
o

Water on removal of suspended impurities, has a small percentage of

pathogenic bacteria which must be removed before the water can be
used for drinking purposes

The process of destroying or removing of the pathogenic microorganisms from the water and making it safe, is called as
disinfection, and the chemicals or substances used for the

disinfection
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are called as disinfectants

55

Drinking Water Purification

B. Removal of micro-organisms:
o

Methods used for disinfection include:

1.

Chlorination

2.

Ozonization

3.

UV treatment

C. Advanced treatments
1.

Reverse osmosis

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2. Ultrafiltration

56

Drinking Water Purification

B. Removal of micro-organisms: (chlorination method of disinfection)
o

Chlorine is most widely used disinfectant throughout the world

The apparatus used for chlorination of water is called a chlorinator

The chlorinator consists of a high tower fitted with a number of

baffle plates to ensure thorough mixing of the chlorine with water

o

Water and proper quantity of concentrated chlorine solution are

introduced at the top of the tower

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During the passage through the tower thorough mixing occurs

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Drinking Water Purification

B. Removal of micro-organisms: (chlorination method of disinfection)
o

The treated water is collected via an outlet at the bottom

For filtered water, about 0.3 0.5 ppm of chlorine is sufficient

Mechanism of chlorine action:

Chlorine reacts with water to form hypochlorous acid (HOCl) which

is a powerful germicide
Cl2 + H2O

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HOCl + HCl
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Drinking Water Purification

HOCl dissociates as:

HOCl

H+ + OCl

Hypochlorite ion causes inactivation of enzymes present in

microorganismsleading to death

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Drinking Water Purification

B. Removal of micro-organisms: (chlorination method of disinfection)

Dechlorination:

Excess Cl2 added to water gives an unpleasant taste and odor

These objectionable qualities can be removed by passing the water

over a bed of activated carbon. Alternatively, activated carbon is

added to the water and the water is filtered after a short period of

time
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Action of bleaching powder

Ca(OCl)2 + H2O Ca(OH)2 + Cl2
Cl2 + H2O HCl + HOCl (hypochlorous acid)

Germs + HOCl Germs killed

Only calculated quantity of bleaching powder (calcium

hypochlorite) should be used, since an excess of it gives
bad taste and smell to treated water

Drinking Water Purification

B. Removal of micro-organisms: (Ozonization method of disinfection)
Ozone is an excellent disinfectant and is produced by passing an
electric discharge through cold and dry oxygen
(electric discharge)

3O2

2O3

(Oxygen)

(Ozone)

Ozone if highly unstable and breaks down liberating nascent oxygen

(Decomposition)
O3
(Ozone)

O2

[O]

(Nascent oxygen)

Nascent oxygen is a powerful oxidizing agent and oxidizes any

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organic matter, as well as destroys the bacteria present in water

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Drinking Water Purification

B. Removal of micro-organisms: (Ozonization method of disinfection)
Ozonization process:

Ozone is injected into water, and the two are allowed to come into
contact for 10 15 minutes in a sterilizing tank

The amount of ozone injected is 2 3 ppm

The disinfected water is removed from the top

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Drinking Water Purification

B. Removal of micro-organisms: (Ozonization method of disinfection)
Advantages of ozonization:

Using ozone simultaneously removes color, odor, and taste without

giving any residue

Excess ozone is not harmful since it is unstable and decomposes to

oxygen
(Decomposition)

O3
(Ozone)
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O2

[O]

(Nascent oxygen)
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Drinking Water Purification

B. Removal of micro-organisms: (Ozonization method of disinfection)
Disadvantages of ozonization:

The method and the equipment needed to prepare ozone is

expensive. Therefore, the method cannot be used for the large scale

disinfection of the municipal water supply

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Desalination of Water (Reverse Omosis)

Advanced methods
Reverse osmosis is the method used for
desalination

Principle of osmosis: when two solutions of

unequal concentrations are separated by a semi
permeable membrane (that selectively allows the
diffusion of only the solvent molecules, but not
the solute particles viz. molecules, ions, etc.) the

flow of solvent occurs from the dilute solution

side to the concentrated solution side due to
osmosis
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Desalination of Water (Reverse Omosis)

If however, hydrostatic pressure in excess of

osmotic pressure is applied on the concentrated

solution side, the solvent flow reverses i.e. the

solvent is now forced to flow from the concentrated
solution side to the dilute solution side across the

semi permeable membrane. This process is termed

as reverse osmosis

Thus, in reverse osmosis, instead of removing

contaminants from water, the pure water is
separated from impure water and the application of
hydrostatic pressure (in excess of osmotic pressure)
makes the water to flow from the impure side (more
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concentrated) to the pure side (less concentrated)

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Desalination of Water (Reverse Omosis)

Such type of membrane filtration is often termed as superfiltration or

hyperfiltration

Process: In this process a pressure of the order of 15 20 kg/cm2 is

applied to the impure water (to be treated) to force pure water out
through the semi permeable membrane. This leaves behind the
dissolved solute particles (both ionic as well as molecular)

The semi permeable membrane consists of a very thin film of

cellulose
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acetate, affixed to either side of a perforated tube

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Desalination of Water (Reverse Omosis)

Process:

More

recently

superior

membranes

made

of

polymethacrylate and polyamide polymers are in use as semi

permeable membranes

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Desalination of Water (Reverse Omosis)

Advantages of Reverse Osmosis:

i.

The process removes both ionic as well as non-ionic, colloidal and high
molecular weight organic polymers

ii.

It removes colloidal silica which is not removed by demineralization

iii. The maintenance cost is low and only involves the replacement of the
semi permeable membrane which takes a few minutes thereby providing
uninterrupted pure water supply. At the same time the membrane cost is
reasonably low and lasts for approx. 2 years
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Purification of Water (Ultrafiltration)

Ultrafiltration like reverse osmosis is a cross flow separation process

It is fundamentally similar to reverse osmosis except for the size of

the molecules it retains

Thus, low molecular weight organics, and ions such as Na+, Ca2+,

Mg2+ and Cl pass through the membrane while high molecular

weight species (macromolecules or supermolecules: 103 106
Daltons) are removed
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Purification of Water (Ultrafiltration)

The stream of liquid that comes out through the membrane is called
permeate and the other side of the liquid stream (which contains the
macromolecules) is called the concentrate as it progressively gets
concentrated with the macromolecules stopped by the membrane

It is suitable for retaining biomolecules, bacteria, viruses, polymers,

colloidal particles and sugar molecules.

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Purification of Water (Ultrafiltration)

The pore sixe of the membrane used

in ultrafiltration is in the range of 0.1
0.001 microns

The type and the amount of species

left over in the permeate depend on
the characteristic of the membrane,
the operating conditions and the
quality
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of the feed

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Different types of membrane filtrations

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Special Thanks
To
Dr.Priy Brat Dwivedi

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THANK YOU

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