Chemistry Project work

Class:11
St. Xavier’s College
Maitighar, Kathmandu

Topic:
To test the hardness of drinking water
from different sources and the study of
the cause of hardness

Submitted by: Submitted To:

Nabin Dhakal Saroj Kumar Yadav (Sir)
Class: 11”C” (Lecturer)
Roll no: 115 Department of Chemistry,
St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu
Abbreviations

 WHO- World Health Organization

 TDS- Total Dissolved Solid (in hard water)
 PPM- Parts Per Million
 DH- Degree of Hardness
 HSE- Health Safety and Environment
 WSH- Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
 Acknowledgement
Being a part of the Xaverian family, I got the opportunity to
work on my full potential. Moreover the practical
knowledge provided to me in hand in hand with the
theoretical knowledge is paving the path for my success.
Observing every scenario around me in the language of
Chemistry has been fascinating to me, and providing me
one more opportunity to be involved in the project work
has made me learn from a different genre of learning, has
made me learn and think critically than before. So, I would
like to extend my deep awe towards Mrs. Karuna Shrestha
(HOD of Chemistry Department, St. Xavier’s College,
Maitighar, Kathmandu ) and Mr. Saroj Yadav (helpful and
motivational teacher) for providing me such a golden
opportunity of extending my knowledge beyond the
horizon of the theoretical knowledge and look from a
different perspective.

Nabin Dhakal
11 C, Biology Group
 St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu Nepal
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
1.1 Identity
1.2 Fount of soft and hard water
2. Objectives
2.1 To test the hardness of drinking water from
various sources
2.2 To study the cause of hardness
3. Methodology
3.1 Developing questionnaire and virtual talk with
different lecturers
3.2 Study of reference materials
3.3 Local inspection
3.4 Research papers
4. Result and discussion
5. Conclusion
6. Recommendation
7. References
 Introduction
1.1 Identity
Roughly speaking water hardness is defined on the basis of the
ability of water to form lather or scum. The water which produces
more scum and lather with soap is termed as soft water and the
water producing less scum is termed as hard water. Scientifically,
the water containing appreciable amounts of dissolved minerals
like calcium, magnesium etc. and few traces of iron, aluminum, etc.
is termed as hard water and the water free from above mentioned
ions but has sodium ion in it is termed as soft water. Hardness and
softness of drinking water can easily be identified by its taste. As
hard water consists of dissolved essential minerals, it’s sometimes
preferred as drinking water. It’s because it has many health
benefits and it also tastes good. On the other hand, soft water
tastes salty and is sometimes not suitable for drinking. Hardness of
water is commonly measured as milligrams of calcium carbonates
per liter of water (WHO/HSE/WSH/10.01/10/Rev/1), gpg also being
the unit of measurement.

1.2 Fount of soft and hard water

The principal natural sources of hardness in water are dissolved
polyvalent metallic ions from sedimentary rocks, seepage and
runoff from soils. Calcium and magnesium, the two principal ions,
are present in many sedimentary rocks, the most common being
limestone and chalk. They are also common essential mineral
 constituents of food. As mentioned above, a minor contribution to
the total hardness of water is also made by other polyvalent ions,
such as aluminum, barium, iron, manganese, strontium and zinc
(WHO report on hardness of water). So, rainwater naturally being
soft, making its way through the ground combines with minerals
like chalk, lime and mostly calcium and magnesium ions and their
salts get turned into hard. Hence, underground water can be
termed as the principal source of water.

Objective
2.1 Test the hardness of drinking water from various sources
One of the elementary objectives of the project is to identify the
hardness of drinking water and make a test on its hardness.
Provided that we know the nature of water we can use water for
our own convenience as both hard and soft water have their own
benefits in the daily life of humans.
2.2 Causes of hardness of water
Another key objective of the project is to note the primary causes
of hardness of water. If the hardness of drinking water is known
the water can be easily purified and the health hazards can be put
off caused due to high TDS.
 Methodology
For the objectives to be met following methodologies have been
undertaken i.e.
3.1 Questionnaire and a virtual talk with some lecturers
Query in regard to any topic undertaken is a common setback we
face. I too had the same hindrances in the preparation of the
project. So, developing some questionnaires I had a virtual talk
with some lecturers teaching in different institutions of Nepal to
come up with the exact knowledge in regard to the topic.
3.2 Study of reference materials
In order to have detailed knowledge regarding the mechanism of
hardness of water I went through various reference materials.
Reference books of the library, blogs of the internet, study
material of juniors, various websites of the internet, Google
search, etc. are few of such reference materials.
3.3 Local inspection
In order to make sure that hard water provides less scum than soft
water, I washed clothes with both the water and found a
significant difference in scum produced by both water. Also I
tested both hard and soft waters’ taste and noted that soft water
has a more salty taste whereas hard water has a tasty texture due
to dissolved minerals in it.
3.4 Research Paper
Going through various research papers like the research paper on
hardness of water, WHO (2014), etc. made me aware about the
present situation of water hardness in the world, causes of
hardness, impacts on health of people and many more.

Conclusion
As both hard water and soft water have both positive and negative
impacts, it’s seen to consume both hard and soft water which can
create troublesome situations at houses since hard water must not
be used in household activities and soft water won’t make a
positive impact on the health of heart patients. So a solution to
both conditions has been found i.e. Reverse Osmosis, Distillation
and Deionization. There are ways to combat the sodium in soft
water, which will allow households to enjoy better tasting water,
as well as have the best available water for cleaning needs.

Results and Discussion

The main agenda of this research was to test the hardness of
water and identify the causes of hardness of water. We can easily
identify the hardness and softness of water by noting down the
total amount of ions dissolved in water.
4.1 How is the hardness of water measured?
Water hardness is measured in "grains" per gallon, in milligrams of
calcium (Ca) per liter, or parts per million, and German Degrees of
Hardness (dH) [which we drop here as this is for fish tanks]. You
can take a water sample to a water test lab to have its hardness
measures. You can convert among water hardness measures.
Water with hardness of 25ppm = 25mg of hardness causing
minerals per liter of water.

Degrees of hardness of water

Soft water 0-17 mg/L of minerals
Slightly hard water 17.1-60 mg/L of minerals
Moderately hard water 60.1-120 mg/L of minerals
Hard water 120.1-180 mg/L of minerals
Very hard water More than 180 mg/L of minerals
Source: Wikipedia(4/19/2021)

4.2 Simple soap test

Hardness of water can be measured by a simple method called
simple soap test. It is the process whereby the water is taken in a
small water bottle and a few drops of soap is added and it is
shaken vigorously. If suds (froth of soap and water) are observed
after addition of only 10-15 drops then it is soft water whereas if
20 drops or more is required to be added then it is hard water.

However this method being qualitative won’t provide us

with a quantitative measurement of the hardness of water. It’s a
low cost method which can easily determine the hardness of
water.
 4.3 Using test meter
This is the method more accurate than soap test method as it also
shows us the total ion contents in the water and its’ numerical
value.

For it a hardness test meter is required which is a digital device. A

small cup of water is taken and the test meter is dipped in the
water and it’s switched on and it’s waited for a few minutes so
that the display shows a constant reading. However the display
mustn’t be dipped in water as the display may get damaged. And if
Test meter
the reading in the display is more than 6O ppm then water is hard
and the method of softening water like reverse osmosis,
distillation and deionization must be applied.
4.4 Titration
Titration is a common laboratory method of quantitative chemical
analysis to determine the concentration of an identified analyte.
The total hardness of water is estimated by titrating the water
sample against EDTA using Eriochrome Black-T (EBT) indicator.
Initially EBT forms a weak EBT Ca2+/Mg2+ wine red colored complex
with Ca2+/Mg2+ ions present in the hard water. On addition of
EDTA solution, Ca2+/Mg2+ ions preferably form a stable EDTA
Ca2+/Mg2+ complex with EDTA leaving the free EBT indicator in
solution which is steel blue in color in the presence of ammonia
buffer.
 Recommendation

So, ultimately going through all the journals, studying the positive
and negative impacts due to hardness of water, TDS content in
water, ways for middle ground between hard and soft water it has
been clear that the TDS content and the ion contents in water
must be balanced and the following table can be taken for help to
balance TDS level.

TDS Level in parts per Palatability Quotient

S
million(ppm)
o
Between 50-150 Excellent for drinking
u
150-250 r Good
250-300 c Fair
300-500 e Poor
Above 1200 : Unacceptable

www.kent.co.in

Hence, in the modern world where pure water distribution has

been a competitive task for every respective authority above
mentioned table can be useful to know the purity level of drinking
water and put steps forward in same manner as required because

“Purity is not a luxury but a necessity”

 References
 http://iranarze.ir/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/6794-
English-IranArze.pdf
 https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemic
als/hardness.pdf
 https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.rfmaonline.com/resource/res
mgr/crfp/howtomeasurethehardnesswater.pdf
 https://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Water-Hardness
 https://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-
education/quality-water-hard-page2.htm
 Times’ Crucial Science, Grade 9, Sapkota, Shrestha
 Modern Graded Science, Grade 9, Shirvastav, Ghimire,
Mishra, Thapa
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cNlBXd0xNU