Environmental Chemistry - Water Flashcards
what is produced with hard water and soap
scum
what causes the hardness in water
Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ ions
equation to represent the formation of scum
2C17H35COONa + Ca+2 -> (C17H35OO)2Ca (↓) + 2Na+
C17H35COONa
sodium stearate (soap)
(C17H35OO)2Ca
calcium stearate (scum)
do Na+ ions cause hardness
no
hard water
water that does not form a lather easily with soap
2 types of hardness
temporary hardness
permanent hardness
what causes temporary hardness
the presence of calcium hydrogen carbonate
how does calcium hydrogen carbonate enter the water?
when carbonic acid (acid rain) reacts with limestone in the ground
formula for when carbonic acid (acid rain) reacts with limestone
H2CO3 + CaCO3 -> Ca(HCO3)2
how do you remove temporary hardness
by boiling
why can you boil off the temporary hardness
soluble normally, but when heated it forms insoluble calcium carbonate
what is the insoluble calcium carbonate responsible for?
the insoluble scale in kettles, washing machines, dish washers
equation for boiling temporarily hard water
Ca(HCO3)2 –> CaCO3 (↓) + H2O +CO2
what causes permanent hardness
the presence of calcium sulfate (CaSO4) or magnesium sulfate (MgSO4)
why can you not remove permanent hard water by boiling
as sulfates do not decompose on heating
3 methods for removing both types of hardness
distillation
addition of washing soda crystals
ion exchange resins
describe distillation
the water is boiled of through a Liebig Condenser and the hydrogen carbonates and sulfates remain in the flask
problem with distillation
too expensive on a large scale
washing soda crystals formula
Na2CO3.10H2O
describe how addition of washing soda crystals would work
the carbonate ions in the washing soda crystals react with calcium ions that cause the hardness (temp and perm) and thus remove them
formula for adding washing soda crystals
Na2CO3 + Ca+2 -> CaCO3 +2NA+
Ion exchange resins type 1
how do you denote it
Na2R
Ion exchange resins type 1
when the hard water passes through the resins
the calcium ions are ‘swapped’ with the sodium ions in the resin, removing the hardness as calcium ions stay in resin
Ion exchange resins type 1
formula
Na2R + Ca+2 -> CaR + 2Na+
Ion exchange resins type 1
what eventually happens to the resin
it becomes full of calcium ions and must be soaked in concentrated solution of sodium chloride to replace Ca2+ with Na+
Ion exchange resins type 2
what does this do?
will remove all the ions in water (not just the calcium/magnesium ones) to produce ‘deionised water’
Ion exchange resins type 2
the 2 resins involved
a cation exchange resin and an anion exchange resin
Ion exchange resins type 2
what does the cation exchange resin do
contains H+ ions which will swap with any positive ions in water
Ion exchange resins type 2
what does the anion exchange resin do
contains OH- ions which will swap with any negative ions in water
Ion exchange resins type 2
what happens at the end
the H+ and OH- form water
Ion exchange resins type 2
cation exchange resin equation
RH + cation -> H+ + spent resin
Ion exchange resins type 2
Anion exchange resin
ROH + anion -> OH- + spent resin
Ion exchange resins type 2
final equation
H+ + OH- -> H2O
2 properties of deionised water
no ions
has dissolved gases and organic material
2 properties of distilled water
no ions
no dissolved gases and organic material
3 advantages of hard water
tastes better
contains calcium for bones and teeth
good for brewing industry
3 disadvantages of hard water
- dirty looking scum produced with soap
- wastes soap
- produces scale that can block pipes and break heating elements
what happens when organic waste is added to a water supply
it puts a demand on the dissolved oxygen
BOD
Biochemical oxygen demand
TEST FOR BOD IN A WATER SUPPLY
first step
water taken into 2 containers
TEST FOR BOD IN A WATER SUPPLY
2 things that must be done when filling container
filled under water
filled to the brim
TEST FOR BOD IN A WATER SUPPLY
why must be filled under water
to stop atmospheric oxygen from being trapped and affecting the result
TEST FOR BOD IN A WATER SUPPLY
why filled to brim?
so no air is found between water and stopper
TEST FOR BOD IN A WATER SUPPLY
what do you do to one sample
one has its dissolved oxygen content determined using a titration called the Winkler method