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Hardness of Water

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WATER

HARDNESS

THEORY

HARDNESS- can be defined as the soap consuming


capacity of water sample OR it is the characteristic that
prevents the lathering of soap.

eg. 2C17H35COONa +
CaCl2
2 NaCl
Sodium stearate
Hardness
Soluble soap
i.e. Long chain fatty acids.

Ca [C17H35COO]2

Calcium stearate
Insoluble soap
i.e. Precipitate.

(soaps are sodium salts of fatty acids)

TYPES OF HARDNESS
I.

Temporary hardness

the hardness which


can be removed by boiling and filtering is referred as
temporary hardness or bicarbonate hardness.

When water containing Ca & Mg bicarbonates is heated,


soluble bicarbonates are converted into insoluble carbonates &
hydroxide. On filtering of such water, soft water is obtained.

Ca(HCO3)2 ------ CaCO3 + H2O + CO2


Calcium bicarbonate
Calcium carbonate
Soluble
Insoluble

WATER

HARDNESS

II.

THEORY

Permanent hardness

the hardness which


cannot be removed by boiling the water sample is
referred as permanent hardness.

It is caused by dissolved chlorides, nitrates &sulphates of


calcium, magnesium & other heavy metal ions. Permanent
hardness can only be removed by lime-soda, ion exchange or
zeolite process.
CaCl2 + Na2CO3 --- CaCO3 + 2NaCl

UNITS OF HARDNESS
Hardness in water is express in terms of calcium carbonates
equivalents per liter because the molecular weight is 100 & it
forms precipitated during water treatment & it is insoluble in
water.
1) Parts per million(ppm)-It can be defined as the
number of parts of CaCO3 present in 1 million parts of
water.
1 million = 106 parts
2) Milligram per Litre(mg/L)- It is number of milligrams of
CaCO3 equivalent of hardness present per lime of
water.
3) Clarke`s Degree(oCl)- It is number of grains (1/7000 lb)
of CaCO3 equivalent of hardness per gallon (10lb) of
water.
4) Degree French(oFr)- It is parts of CaCO3 equivalent of
hardness per 105 parts of water.
5) Milliequivalent per Litre(meq/L)- It is number of
milliequivalent of hardness present per litre.
Relationship between various units of hardness
1ppm=1mg/L=0.1oFr=0.07oCl=0.02meq/L
2

WATER

HARDNESS

THEORY

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