Jordan University of Science and Technology

Civil Engineering
CE453-ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING LAB

Name: kawther salman

ID: 147665

Exp. #5: Determination of Hardness of Water

Introduction:
Temporary (carbonate) and permanent (non-carbonate) hardness are the two components that make
up hardness. Scale made of calcium carbonate, which can accumulate on objects like kettle elements,
can develop when water is boiled. Kettles lined with plastic polypropylene will not allow the scale to
adhere; instead, it will float on the water's surface. When heated or boiled, the permanent hardness
that is composed of calcium and magnesium sulfate does not continue to build scale

Total Hardness (TH):

Technically - the sum of all polyvalent cations

Practically - the amount of calcium and magnesium ions (the predominant minerals in
natural waters)
It is divided into carbonate and non-carbonate hardness:

Carbonate: CO3, HCO3

Non-carbonate: SO4, CI, NO3

Carbonate Hardness (CH)

Often called "temporary hardness" because heating the water will remove it. When the water is
heated, the insoluble carbonates will precipitate and tend to form bottom deposits in water heaters

Non-Carbonate Hardness (NCH)

Called permanent hardness because it is not removed when the water is heated. It is much more
expensive to remove non-carbonate hardness than carbonate hardness

Objective:
1. To determine the concentrations of Ca2+(aq) and Mg2+(aq) ions in a commercial sample of
bottled mineral water
2. To compare experimental results with the concentrations of the metal ions claimed by the
manufacturer
3. To calculate total hardness, calcium and magnesium hardness for a given water sample

Materials and Equipment:

1. Burette
 2. Pipettes
3. Pipette bulb
4. Conical flask (Erlenmeyer flask)
5. 250ml graduated cylinders
6. Standard flask
7. Wash bottle
8. Beakers
9. Ammonium Hydroxide
10. EDTA
11. Erichrome black T
12. Ammonia buffer solution
13. Murexide powder

Theory:

V EDTA ∗B∗103
total hardness [ mg/l as CaCO3 ]=
sample volume(ml)

V EDTA ∗B∗103
2 h ardness [ mg/l as CaCO3 ] =
CO−2
sample volume(ml)

M g Hardness [ mg/l as CaCO3 ]=Total Hardness−Ca Hardness

+2 +2

B: mg CaCO3 equivalent to 1 ml EDTA titrant (B=1)

= (molar weight of CaCO3) * molarity of EDTA

= 100*0.1= 1.0

M +2 [ mg/l as CaCO 3 ]=M +2 ¿ ¿ ¿

Procedure:
→TOTAL HARDNESS:

1. Pipette 20ml of water sample and transfer it to a clean 250ml conical flask
2. Add 2ml of Ammonia buffer solution to the water sample so that the pH will be maintained
between 9 and 10
3. Add few drops of EBT indicator to the conical flask and the sample turns to wine red in color
4. Fill the burette with 0.02M EDTA solution and adjust to zero then fix it the burette stand
5. Titrate the water sample against the EDTA solution in the burette till all calcium and magnesium
ions present in the sample reacts with the EDTA. The appearance of blue color indicates that all
 Ca and Mg ions are complexed with EDTA and forms a metal EDTA complex. (The end point of
the titration)
6. Record the burette reading to get the volume of EDTA

→CALCIUM HARDNESS:

1. Pipette 20ml of water sample and transfer it to a clean 250ml conical flask
2. Add 2ml of sodium hydroxide solution to the water sample so that the pH will be maintained
between 12 and 13
3. Add 0.2g of Murexide powder indicator to the conical flask and the sample turns to purple in
color
4. Fill the burette with 0.02M EDTA solution and adjust to zero then fix it the burette stand
5. Titrate the water sample against the EDTA solution in the burette till all calcium and magnesium
ions present in the sample reacts with the EDTA. The appearance of violet color indicates that all
Ca and Mg ions are complexed with EDTA and forms a metal EDTA complex. (The end point of
the titration)
6. Record the burette reading to get the volume of EDTA

Raw data and results:

→TOTAL HARDNESS:
Burette solution: EDTA

Indicator: EBT

Buffer solution: ammonia

End point: appearance of blue color

Volume of sample Volume of titrant EDTA (ml) Total hardness

[ mg/l as CaCO3 ]
50 3.1 64

→CALCIUM HARDNESS:
Burette solution: EDTA

Indicator: murexide powder

Buffer solution: NaOH

End point: appearance of violet color

 Volume of sample Volume of titrant EDTA (ml) Ca+2 h ardness [ mg/l as CaCO3 ]
50 0.6 12

Sample calculation:
3
3.2∗1∗10
Total hardness= =64
50
3
+2 0.6∗1∗10
Ca h ardness= =38
50
+2
M g Hardness=40−24=52

Discussion:
Hardness is usually expressed in terms of the equivalent quantity of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in
milligrams per liter or parts per million.
Like the previous experiment, any concentration will be converted to (mg/l) of CaCO3 to calculate the
hardness

Total hardness of the sample = 64(mg/l as CaCO 3), this value is classified as a soft hardness according
to the specification (Water hardness classes):

Description Hardness range (mg/L as CaCO3)

Soft 0 - 75
Moderately hard 75 - 100
Hard 100 - 300
Very hard > 300

Ground water has a higher hardness than surface water because of rock formation. Hardness
classify as Secondary MCL, the Health Organization says that there is no evidence that hardness
affects human health, because the temperature of the human body is 37⸰C less than 60⸰C, the
occurrence of hardness

Buffer agent:
 1. Ammonia (NH3)

2. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)

- Why do we use buffer

Aesthetic aspect of water

Because the Boilers, heaters and tawers deposit calcium and magnesium on them, thus preventing
heat conduction and causing rust in them, increasing fuel consumption, and requiring expensive
maintenance

Maybe there is some error in our results due to:

1. The color was not completely changed

2. Take a mistake reading of VEDTA

Conclusion:

- The main divalent cations caused hardness is (Ca+2 and Mg+2)

- With increasing the volume of titrant (VEDTA) that’s needed to change the color,
hardness of the sample increase
- Hardness more important in ground water
- Softening water process is an important process to:
 Reduce soap consumption (since it can precipitate soap and cancel its effect)
 Improve aesthetics of water
 Protect any device depend on the heat and water in general