Hard Water
A water that will not easily form a lather with soap
due to the presence of Ca²⁺ or Mg²⁺ ions in solution
Temporary Hardness
Can be removed by boiling the water
due to Ca(HCO₃)₂ , becomes CaCO₃ on heating, leads to blocked pipes
Permanent Hardness
not removed by boiling the water, caused by CaSO₄ or MgSO₄
Methods of removing water hardness
Water treatment
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (B.O.D)
the amount of dissolved oygen consumed by biological action when a sample of water is kept at 20°C in the dark for 5 days
Hardness in water
Calcium + Magnesium ions mix with soap and form a scum. Modern detergents do not contain soap so will form a lather even with hard water
Advantages of hard water
Disadvantages of hard water
Removing water hardness
Distillation
evaporating off the water (leaves the dissolves salts behind). The condensed water will no longer contain the salts and be ‘soft.’
Using washing soda
Hydrated sodium carbonate Na₂ CO₃. IOH₂O (washing soda) removes hardness from water and allows it to lather more easily with soap
Using washing soda equation
Ca + Na₂ CO₃ -> CaCO₃ + 2Na+
CaCO₃ is soluble in water
Ion exchange resin
-Pass water through ion exchange resin
-Cation exchange swaps ions that cause hardness
(Ca²⁺ + 2RNa -> R₂Ca + 2Na⁺) (R represents the resin)
-mixed-bed ion-exchange resin removes all ions from water (Water in deionised and cannot be hard)
-Contains 1) Cation exchange (to remove + ions) and
RH⁺ Na⁺ -> RNa + H⁺ 2)Anion exchange (to remove -ions)
ROH + Cl⁻ -> RCl + OH⁻
Calculating Water Hardness
in hardback
Water Pollution - dissolved oxygen
organic matter + oxygen -> carbon dioxide + water
Pollution
release of substances into environment that damage the environment
- removes large solids + floating debris (twigs, plastics, etc)