D R .

A R M A N TA B A S S U M
A S S I S TA N T P R O F E S S O R
D EPARTMEN T O F CHE MI ST R Y
FE D E RAL URD U UNI VERS I T Y O F ART S, SCI E NCE AND T E CHNO LO G Y
GULSHAN - E - I Q BAL CAMPUS K ARACHI
 INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY
(CHEM-521)
M.Sc (P), (Semester I)
Unit: Water, Conditioningand Treatment for
Industrial Purposes

Topic: Degree of Hardness of water

Date: 29th December 2020
 TOTAL HARDNESS OF WATER
• Hardness of water is defined as the sum of metal (divalent) cations (in consistent units)
existing in water such as Ca+2, Mg+2, Fe+2, Mn+2 ions.
• Practically most hardness is due to Ca+2 ion, Mg+2 ion because these are predominant minerals
in natural waters.
 DEGREE OF HARDNESS
The amount of hardness causing substances (soluble salts of calcium or magnesium) in a certain volume
of water measures the extent of hardness or degree of hardness.
 HARDNESS DETERMINATION
• Hardness is usually reported as equivalents of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and is generally
classified as soft, moderately hard, hard, and very hard.
• It is best to report results as the actual equivalents of CaCO3 because the inclusive
classification limits for each category may differ between users of the information.
• The classification scheme used by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is shown in
Table below.
• separate determinations of calcium and magnesium are to be made using an appropriate
analytical technique.

American Public Health Association (APHA), American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the Water Environmental Federation (WEF).
1998. Standard Methods for Examinations of Water and Wastewater, 20th ed. United Book Press, Inc. Baltimore, Maryland.
 WAT ER H A R DNESS CL A SSI FI CAT I O NS
( R EP O RT ED A S CA CO 3 EQ UI VA L ENT S)
USED B Y T H E US EPA (EPA 1 986).

Seawater is considered to be very hard due to various dissolved salts. Typically seawater's hardness is in the area of 6,630 ppm (6.63
grams per litre). In contrast, freshwater has hardness in the range of 15 to 375 ppm.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss540
 EXERCISE
• Equivalent weight (also known as gram equivalent) is the mass of one equivalent, that is the mass of a
given substance which will combine with or displace a fixed quantity of another substance.
• The equivalent weight of an element or radical is equal to its atomic weight or formula weight divided by the
valence it assumes in compounds.

• Equivalent weight of substance (EW) = Molecular weight of substance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

theoretical charge (for radicals and compounds) or valency (for ions)

Find,

EW of Mg+2 ion = _______________mg/mmol

meq/mmol

= 12. 15 mg/meq
 EXERCISE

Find,
?
EW of CaCO3 = _______________mg/mmol
? meq/mmol

= 50 mg/meq
 FIND T HE CONCENT RAT ION O F M AG NESI UM I O N AS M G/ LI TR E O F CA LCI UM
CA RBONAT E WH EN TH E CO NCENT RATI O N O F MAGNESI UM IO N I N WATER
SA M P L E I S 1 0 M G / L I T RE.

• Formula,
Concentration of species in mg/L as CaCO3 = mg/L of species x equivalent weight of
CaCO3 equivalent weight of species
= 10 x 50
12
Concentration of Mg+2 in mg/L as CaCO3 = 41.66 mg/L as CaCO3
 ASSIGNMENT
A sample of water having a pH of 7.2 has the following
concentrations of ions:
Ions Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ K+ HCO3- SO4- Cl-

Conc. 40 10 11.8 7.0 110 67.2 11

(mg/l)

Calculate the concentrations of each species in terms of mg/L as CaCO3.

 SOLVE AND PUT INTO THE TABLE
Ions Conc. Mol. Wt. (MW) Eq. Wt. of species Conc. as species Conc. as CaCO3
(EW)

Unit  mg/L mg/mL mg/meq meq/L mg/L as CaCO3

Formula  EW=MW/valency = Conc. of species (in mg/L)/EW = Conc. of species (in mg/L) x EW of CaCO3
EW of species
Ca+2

Mg+2

Na+

K+

HCO3-

SO4-

Cl-
 CHECK THE IONIC BALANCE

sum of cations = sum of anion

(From the table in step I)
__________ = __________

Error in the range of ±10 is acceptable.

You can use any of the unit system done in step I.
 FIND TOTAL HARDNESS

• 1) Total hardness = Ca+2 ion hardness + Mg+2 ion hardness

(due to cations) = ___________ + ___________
= ___________ mg/L as CaCO3

• 2) Total hardness (TH) = Carbonate hardness (CH) + Non-Carbonate hardness (NCH)

(due to anions)

• 3) Indicate the degree of hardness of water.

 ALKALINITY
• Alkalinity is a measure of the acid-neutralizing capacity of water.
• It is an aggregate measure of the sum of all titratable bases in the sample.
• Alkalinity in most natural waters is due to the presence of carbonate (CO3=),
bicarbonate (HCO3-), and hydroxyl (OH-) anions.
• However, borates, phosphates, silicates, and other bases also contribute to
alkalinity if present.
• This property is important when determining the suitability of water for
irrigation and/or mixing some pesticides and when interpreting and controlling
wastewater treatment processes.
• Alkalinity is usually reported as equivalents of calcium carbonate (CaCO3).