ANALYSIS OF HARD WATER

An Investigatory Project Report

Submitted By

Yash Nashte

THE ORCHID SCHOOL

PUNE

2019- 2020

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 The Orchid School, Pune

Certificate

This is to certify that Mihit Kumar of class XI has successfully

completed the Chemistry Investigatory Project in the partial
fulfilment of curriculum of Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE) leading to award of Annual Examination of
the year 2019-2020.

External Examiner Teacher-In-Charge

Unit Head Principal

(Namrata Majhail)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

I would like to express my deep gratitude and sincere thanks to our chemistry

teacher Anita Di for her constant valuable advice and constructive inputs which

enhanced the quality of my work. This project could not have been completed

successfully without her help. I would also like to thank Rajshree Di for her

encouragement and support and my respected principal Namrata Di for giving

me an opportunity to work on such an intriguing topic which has enriched my

knowledge. I take special pleasure in acknowledging our lab assistant Priyanka

Di for her willingness in providing the necessary lab equipment.

Lastly, I would like to thank my parents for their love and guidance without

which nothing can be accomplished.

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Contents
S. No. Content Page No.
1. Introduction 5-10

2. Aim & Theory 11-12

3. Experimental Section 13-15

a)Apparatus
b)Procedure
c)Observations

4. Results 16

5. Bibliography 17

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Introduction

Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with soft water).
Hard water has high concentrations of calcium, magnesium and iron ions.

These ions are called hardening ion.

In low concentrations, these ions are not considered harmful for domestic use,
but when present in higher concentrations these ions interfere with the cleansing
action of soaps and accelerate the corrosion of steel pipes, especially those
carrying hot water

Soaps are sodium or potassium salts of higher fatty acids such as stearic acid,
C17H35COOH . Soaps such as C17H35COONa+ are very effective cleansing
agents so long as they remain soluble in water. They react with Ca2+ and Na2+
ions present in hard water and form an insoluble sticky precipitate of calcium
and magnesium salts of fatty acids known as scum and thus interfere in the
cleansing action of soap.

C17H35COONa+ (aq) + Ca2+ (aq) C17H35COOCa2+ +2Na+

Hardness of water can be defined as the soap – consuming capacity of water, or

the capacity of precipitation of soap as a characteristic property of water that
prevents the lathering of soap. It is responsible for the formation of boiler scales
on tea kettles and vessels used for heating water. The boiler scale reduces the
efficiency of transfer of heat because it is a bad conductor of heat. Formation of
boiler scale in the pipes carrying hot water reduces the rate of flow of water in
them. On extreme cases due to overheating the boiler or the pipes may break
due to overheating. The boiler scale consists of primarily of the carbonates of
hardening ions.

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Ca2+ (aq) + 2HCO3-(aq) CaCO3(s)+CO2(g)+H2O(l)

The hardening ions enter into water as a result of reaction between slightly
acidic rain water and mineral deposits. Ground water becomes hard as it flows
through underground lime – stone deposits. The water from the deep wells has
higher degree of hardness as compared with water from shallow wells because
of greater interaction with the lime – stone deposits.CO2 dissolved in water,
makes it slightly acidic and helps in dissolved lime-stone deposits.

CO2 (aq) + CaCO3(s) + H2O(l) Ca2+ (aq) + 2HCO3-(aq)

Types of hard water

Hard water can be classified into two:-

 Temporary Hard water

 Permanent Hard water

Temporary hardness

Temporary hardness is caused by a combination of calcium ions and

bicarbonate ions in the water. it can be removed by boiling the water or by the
addition of lime (calcium hydroxide). Boiling promotes the formation of
carbonate from bicarbonate and precipitates calcium carbonate out of the
solution, leaving water that is softer upon cooling.

The following is the equilibrium reaction when calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is

dissolved in water.

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 CaCO3(s) + CO2(g) +H2O(l) Ca2+ (aq) + 2HCO3-(aq)

Upon heating, less CO2 is able to dissolve into the water. Since there is not
enough CO2 around, the reaction cannot proceed from left to right, and
therefore the CaCO3 will not dissolve rapidly. Instead, the reaction is forced to
the left to re-establish equilibrium, and solid CaCO3 is formed.

Boiling the water will remove hardness as long as the solid CaCO 3 that
participates out is removed. After cooling, if enough time passes, the water will
pick up CO2 from the air and the reaction will again proceed from left to right
,allowing the CaCO3 re-dissolve into the water.

Permanent hardness

Permanent hardness is hardness that cannot be removed by boiling. It is usually

caused by the presence of calcium and magnesium sulphates and or chlorides
which become more soluble as the temperature rises. Despite the name,
permanent hardness can be removed using a water softener or ion exchange
column, where the calcium and magnesium ions are exchanged with the sodium
ions in the column.

Hard water causes scaling, which is the left – over mineral deposits that are
formed after the hard water had evaporated .this is also known as lime scale the
scale can clog pipes , ruin water heaters , coat the inside of tea and coffee pots
and decrease the life of toilet flushing units.

Hardening must be constantly monitored to avoid costly breakdowns in contact

with water. Hardness is controlled by the addition of chemicals and by large-
scale softening with zeolites (Na2Al2SiO8.xH2O) and ion exchange resins.

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Effects of hard water

These are advantages and disadvantages for people who live in hard water
areas.

Disadvantages of hard water

 It is difficult to form lather with soap.
 Scum may form in a reaction with soap thus wasting soap.
 Lime scale (a hard crust) forms inside kettles. This wastes energy
whenever you boil a kettle.
 Hot water pipes fur up. Lime scale starts to coat the inside of the pipes
which can eventually can get blocked up.

Advantages of hard water

 Some people prefer the taste.
 Calcium ions in the water are good for children’s teeth and bones.
 It helps to reduce heart disease.
 A coating of lime scale onside copper pipes or especially old lead pipes
sops poisonous salts dissolving into water

A General Classification Of Hard Water is given below:

Hardness (ppm CaCO3) Classification

<15ppm Very soft water

15ppm-50ppm Soft water
50ppm-100ppm Medium hard water
100ppm-200ppm Hard water
>200ppm Very hard water

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 >200ppm Very hard water

EFFECTS ON SKIN

Some confusion may arise after a first experience with soft water. Hard water
does lather well with soap and leaves a “clean feeling”. Soft water lathers better
than hard water but leaves a “slippery feeling” on the skin after use with soap.
Some providers of water softening equipment claim that the “slippery feeling”
after showering in soft water is due to “clean skin” and absence of friction
causing soap scum.

However, the chemical explanation is that softened water, because of its

sodium content, has a much reduced ability to combine with the soap film on
the body; therefore, the soap is much more difficult to rinse off. Solution are to
use less soap or a synthetic liquid body wash.

MEASUREMENT

The simple way to determine the hardness of water is the lather/froth test:

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When agitated, lathers easily in soft water but not in hard water. More exact
measurements of hardness can be obtained through a wet titration. Although
water hardness usually measures only the total concentrations of Calcium and
Magnesium (the two most prevalent, divalent metal ions), iron, Aluminium, and
Manganese may also be present at elevated levels in some geographical
locations.

The degree of hardness in water depends on the extent of hardening ions present
in water. The concentration of hardening ions is a water sample is generally
expressed as though the hardness is due exclusively to CaCO 3. The units or
hardness is mg CaCO3/litre which is same as parts per million (ppm) CaCO3.

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Aim
In this experiment we will be determining the hardness of water using the
method of titration.

Theory
The concentration of hardening ions in water can be determined by a titration
technique, the titrant is the disodium salt of ethylene-diamine tetra acetic acid

In aqueous solution Na2H2Y dissociates into Na+ and H2Y2- ions.Ca2+ and Mg2+
react with H2Y2- to form stable complexes in a solution having pH of about 10.a
buffer solution containing ammonia and ammonium ions is used to maintain the
pH of the solution around 10.

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 For the detection of the end point Erichrome Black T (EBT) is used as indicator
EBT forms complex ions with Ca2+ and Mg2+, but binds more strongly to Mg2+
ions. Since only a small amount of EBT is added, only a small amount of Mg 2+
ions is used in the formation of complex and no Ca2+ ions are used.

Indicator

Erichrome Black T (EBT)

End point

Wine red to sky blue colour.

Wine red to sky blue

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Experiment

Requirements
250ml conical flask, funnel, beaker, burette, pipette.

Standard EDTA (Na2H2Y) solution, buffer solution (pH=10), Erichrome Black

T (EBT) indicator.

Procedure

 Take about 100ml of the water sample to be analyzed. If the water

sample contains suspended impurities, it should be subjected to simple
filtration. If the water sample is acidic to litmus, add 1M NH3 drop wise
until it becomes basic to litmus.
 Rinse the burette with Na2H2Y solution and then fill it with the solution.
Record the initial reading.
 Pipette out 25.0ml of the given sample of water in the conical flask. Add
1ml of the buffer (pH=10) solution and 2 drops EBT indicator. The
colour of the solution becomes wine red at this stage.
 Titrate the above solution with standard Na2H2Y solution. At the end
point the wine red colour disappears and the solution becomes blue(or
purple) in colour. Note the final reading of the burette. Repeat the
titration 3 to 4 times to get a concordant reading.

Here we are pipetting 10 ml of tap water.

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Observations

Morality of the standard Na2H2Y solution =0.01M.

Volume of water taken for each titration = 20.0ml.

Burette readings
 tap water

S no. Initial reading Final reading Volume of Na2H2Y used

1 0.0 4.4 4.4ml

2 4.4 8.9ml 4.5ml

3 8.9 13.4ml 4.5ml

Concordant readings – 4.5ml

Calculations
Let the volume of titrant used be = 4.5 ml = x

Molarity of titrant solution = 0.01 M

Moles of titrant used =M×V

1000

= 0.01 × 4.5 = 0.01 × x

1000 1000

= 45 × 10-6 M
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Mass of Na2H2Y = Moles of Ca2+ = 0.01 × 4.5 = 0.01 × x

1000 1000

= 45 × 10-6 M

Mass of equivalent CaCO3 = 0.01 × 4.5 × 100g = y mg

1000

= 45 × 10-4 mg = y mg

Mass of CaCO3 per litre = y × 1000 = 50y mg/l

20

= 45 × 10-4 × 50 mg/l

= 225 × 10-3 mg/l

Hardness = 225 × 10-3 × 106

103

= 225 ppm

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Result

The degree of hardness of tap water is 225 ppm. According to the above table
this reading shows that the tap water provided us is very hard.

This is the final product and colour obtain after the process of titration.

Here we are adding the EDTA solution to a burette with the help of a funnel.

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Bibliography

Books: Comprehensive practical Chemistry for class 11(Laxmi publications

PVT. LTD)

Websites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylenediaminetetraacetic_acid

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