1. Units for Hardness of water?
Ans) Mg/lt or PPM (parts per million).
1 mg/L of CaCO₃ = 1 ppm.
Categories of hardness in mg/L or ppm:
0–60 ppm: Soft
61–120 ppm: Moderately hard
121–180 ppm: Hard
Over 180 ppm: Very hard.
2. What is the important composition in Hard
Water?
Ans) The important composition in hard water
consists of dissolved minerals, primarily calcium
(Ca²⁺) and magnesium (Mg²⁺) ions. These ions
are responsible for water hardness. Hard water
may also contain smaller amounts of other
minerals, but calcium and magnesium are the
primary contributors.
3) What are the Important Methods in
Purification of Municipal water?
Ans) The purification of municipal water is critical
to ensure safe, potable water for public use. There
are several important methods used in the
treatment and purification of municipal water to
remove contaminants, pathogens, and impurities.
These methods typically follow a multi-stage
process to ensure water safety. The main steps
include:
(A) Screening:
To remove large debris (e.g., sticks, leaves,
trash).
Water is passed through screens to filter out
large objects before further treatment.
(B) Sedimentation with Coagulation:
To remove suspended particles like dirt, silt, and
microorganisms.
Chemicals like alum (aluminum sulfate) or ferric
chloride are added to water, which causes small
particles to clump together. This is Coagulation.
The water is kept still for a period, and the large
flocs settle to the bottom of a sedimentation
tank, where they are removed as sludge. This is
Sedimentation.
(C) Filtration:
To remove fine particles and microorganisms
that did not settle during sedimentation.
Water is passed through various filters, such as
sand, gravel, or activated carbon, to remove
impurities.
Sand filtration: Removes suspended solids and
organic matter.
Activated carbon filtration: Adsorbs dissolved
organic compounds and chemicals, such as
chlorine by-products and pesticides.
4) Explain the chlorination (or) Bleaching action
in purification of water?
Ans) Chlorination (or Bleaching action) in the
purification of water involves the use of chlorine
or chlorine-based compounds, such as bleaching
powder (calcium hypochlorite), to disinfect water
by killing harmful microorganisms like bacteria,
viruses, and parasites. This process is commonly
used in water treatment plants to ensure that the
water is safe for consumption.
Steps in Chlorination:
1)Addition of Chlorine or Bleaching Powder:
Chlorine gas or bleaching powder is added to
the water. When bleaching powder is added,
it reacts with water to release chlorine.
2)Formation of Hypochlorous Acid (HOCl):
Chlorine gas reacts with water to form
hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which is a powerful
disinfectant.
Hypochlorous acid dissociates into hypochlorite
ions (OCl⁻) and hydrogen ions (H⁺), but the acid
form (HOCl) is more effective as a disinfectant.
3)Disinfection Action:
Hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ions
oxidize the cell walls of microorganisms,
destroying their structure and killing them.
4)Residual Chlorine: After the disinfection, a
small amount of chlorine remains in the water
as residual chlorine. This residual chlorine
provides ongoing protection against future
contamination as water travels through pipes.
[Link] RO process in desalination of water
ANS) The process of removing common salt(NaCl)
from the water is called desalination. There are
two methods present for desalination
(a) Electrodialysis
(b) Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis: When two solutions of
unequal concentration are separated by a
semipermeable membrane flow of solvent takes
place from dilute to concentrated sides due to
osmosis. If a hydrostatic pressure in excess of
osmotic pressure is applied in the concentrated
side, the solvent flow reverse ie., solvent is
forced to move from concentrated side to dilute
side across the membrane. This is the principle
of reverse osmosis. Thus, in reverse osmosis
method, pure solvent(water) is separated from
its contaminates. This membrane filtration is
some times also called super-filtration or hyper
filtration.
6. Explain Ion Exchange method
ANS) By using soft water, we can resist the
formation of scale. In the conversion from hard
water to soft water, suitable ion exchange resins
have been developed to remove all mineral salts
from water.
The deionization of water is conducted in two
steps:
i) Water is passed through a tank contains
cation exchange resin, which consists of giant
organic molecules having -COOH group.
The Ca+2,Mg +2 or any cation in the tank of
water are replaced by the H+ -ions from cation
exchange tank.
ii) Then water is passed through a tank
containing anion exchange resin, where R-
NH3 + OH - are present in the tank. The anions
in the water are replaced by –OH ions from the
resin. Anion exchange resins are giant organic
molecules with base group –OH attached to
them.
It is very good for treating water for use in high
pressure boilers.
[Link] short notes in
(a) Carbonate conditioning process
(b) Phosphate conditioning process
ANS)
(a)Carbonate conditioning process :
In low pressure boilers,scale formation can be
avoided by adding sodium carbonate to
boiler water containing CaSO4 is converted in to
Calcium carbonate,by blow down operation, we
can removed the CaCO3 sludge.
(b)Phosphate conditioning method:
In HIGH pressure boilers,scale formation can
be avoided by adding sodium phosphate, which
reacts with hardness of water forming non-
adherent and easily removable, soft sludge of
calcium and magnesium phosphates, which can
be removed by blow down operation.