• UNIT I : WATER TECHNOLOGY

• Module 1: Water – sources and impurities; Water quality parameters:

colour, odour, pH, hardness, alkalinity, TDS, COD, BOD and heavy metals
(definition, significance and method of determination-list of methods).
• Module 2: Boiler feed water:
• Requirement.
• Troubles: Scale & sludge, Caustic embrittlement, Boiler corrosion and
Priming & foaming.
• Internal conditioning – Phosphate, Calgon and Carbonate treatment.
• External conditioning - Ion exchange demineralization.
• Module 3: Municipal water treatment process – screening, sedimentation &
coagulation, Filtration, Disinfection : ozonolysis, UV treatment, chlorination
(including break-point chlorination).
• Module 4: Desalination of brackish water : Reverse osmosis.
Module 1:

Water: sources and impurities;

Water quality parameters: (Definition, significance and method

of determination-list of methods)
1. Colour
2. Odour
3. pH
4. Alkalinity
5. Hardness
6. TDS
7. COD
8. BOD
9. Heavy metals
 WATER TECHNOLOGY

Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful to humans
Many uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and
environmental activities
Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water
Water demand already exceeds supply in many parts of the world, and many more
areas are expected to experience this imbalance in the near future
 Sources of water

Groundwater Sources:
Have Their Origins in the Water Cycle
and Are Held in Aquifers Beneath the
Ground Surface.

Surface water Sources:

Rain, River, Lake and Oceans
Fresh Water is a precious gift
• The distribution of water on the Earth’s surface is extremely uneven.
• Only about 3% of water (69% resides in glaciers, 30% underground, and less
than 1% is located in lakes, rivers and swamps) on the surface is fresh; the
remaining 97% resides in the ocean.
• Only one percent of the water on the Earth’s surface is usable by humans,
and 99% of the usable quantity is situated underground
• It is estimated that 70% of world-wide water use is for irrigation in agriculture.
• Climate change will have significant impacts on water resources around the
world because of the close connections between the climate and hydrologic
cycle.
• Due to the expanding human population competition for water is growing such
that many of the worlds major aquifers are becoming depleted.
• Many pollutants threaten water supplies, but the most widespread, especially
in underdeveloped countries, is the discharge of raw sewage into natural
waters.
Impurities present in water: Natural and anthropological

The natural water is usually

contaminated by different types
of impurities.

They are mainly three types.

• Physical impurities
• Chemical impurities
• Biological impurities
 Examples of impurities in water
Physical impurities: Chemical impurities:
• Colour: in water is caused by • Inorganic chemicals: Cations (Al+3, Ca+2, Mg+2,
metallic substances like salts. Fe+2, Zn+2, Cu+2 Na+, K+), Anions (OH-. Cl-,
• Turbidity: is due to the colloidal, SO4-2, NO3- HCO3-, CO32-, F-, NO2-), Silica,
extremely fine suspensions Gases (CO2, NH3) – Origin: rocks, Industrial
such as insoluble substances effluents
like clay, silt, and micro- • Organic chemicals: dyes, paints, varnishes,
organisms.
petroleum products, pesticides, insecticides,
• Taste: presence of dissolved detergents, drugs, textile materials, tanneries
minerals in water produces • Acidic / corrosive materials: DDT, high
taste. Bitter taste can be due to explosives, battery, mining, metallurgical
the presence of Fe, Al, Mn,
operations
Sulphates and lime. Soap taste
can be due to the presence of Biological substances:
large amount of sodium • Algae, pathogenic bacteria, fungi, virus,
bicarbonate. pathogens, parasitic worms.
• Odour: In water is undesirable • Sources: Natural, domestic and sewage
for domestic as well as wastes, excreta
 Water Quality Parameters

For domestic, industrial &  Colour Quality Standards for use: depends on
agricultural use, water  Odour & purpose.
should be free from: Taste Set by:
1. Turbidity, Colour Temperature
2. Taste, Odour  pH
1. WHO- World Health Organization
3. Microbes  Hardness
2. USPHD- United States Public Health
 Alkalinity
4. Toxicity (Organic and Department
Inorganic compounds)  TDS
3. ICMR- Indian Council of Medical
 Salinity Research
 COD and
 BOD
 DO
Drinking water standards set by BIS, CPCB and WHO

BIS = Bureau of Indian

Standards
CPCB = Central Pollution
Control Board
WHO = World Health
Organization
 1. Colour
Colour:
• Is a shade imparted by organic or inorganic dissolved substances and fine
colloids Unit of colour:

• Can be natural or due to pollution • Hazen units / APHA

color/ Platinum
• Measurement: Tintometer Cobalt(Pt/Co) scale:
• Units: Hazen unit, TCU (Tintometer colour unit) • Is a color standard named
for the American Public
Sources: Health Association and
defined by ASTM D1209.
• Organic Sources: Algae, tannis, peat, humus, organic dyes, weed, protozoa
• It was originally intended
• Inorganic Sources: Fe and Mn compounds, chemicals and inorganic to describe the color
pigments in effluents of waste water, but its
usage has expanded to
Significance: include other industrial
• Colour indicates the presence of unacceptable chemicals in water, such as applications.
Cr, Fe. • Referred to as a
"yellowness index" that is
• Aesthetically not acceptable as well. used to assess the quality
Removal of colour: of liquids that are clear to
yellowish in color.
• Colour and colour producing materials are removed by coagulation &
settling, adsorption and filtration
Measurement of colour: APHA\Pt-Co (Hazen) Color
• Described in ASTM D1209 “Standard Test Method for Color of Clear Liquids (Platinum-Cobalt
Scale)”.
• An observer to compare the color of a product to a known standard, and then judge the “color”.
• This color scale ranges from 0 to 500. The lowest value of 0 is referred to as water white. A value of
500 is distinctly yellow.
• Solutions of a mixture of potassium chloroplatinate and cobalt chloride have colour similar to that of
natural water.
1.2545 g of K2PtCl6 & 1 g of CoCl2.6H2O 500 Hazen units
dissolved in 100 ml conc. HCl and
diluted to 1 lt with distilled water

Sample water – Centrifuged to remove

suspended impurities and compared with
the standard water in a tintometer

Colour is expressed in Hazen units

 2. Odour and Taste
• Generally interlinked, but taste need not be accompanied by odour.
• Disagreeable odours and tastes are objectionable for potable water, food products,
beverages, textiles, paper, pulp.
Taste: Odour: • Common eg. of odour:
Algae- grasy -traces of
• Living organisms, decaying essential oils from their
• Bitter: Fe, Al, Mn,
vegetation, algae, bacteria, fungi, bodies
Sulphate salts, excess weeds
of lime • Fe & S bacteria –
• Inorganic & organic compounds of offensive odour
• Soapy: Excess NaHCO3
N, S and P and putrefaction of • Colloidal veg. matter –
• Brackish: Unusual proteins & organic materials in peaty
amount of salts sewage • Finely divided Clay &
• Palatable: dissolved • Effluents containing alcohols, sand – earthy
CO2, minerals like phenols, aldehydes, ketones,
carbonates & nitrates esters Removal of tastes & odour
1. Aeration
2. Activated carbon
treatment.
 3. pH

• Measure of the effective concentration of hydrogen ions in water

• pH is defined as negative logarithm of hydrogen ion concentration.
• It ranges from 0 to 14
• Measured using analog or digital pH meters
The pH value ranges from 0-14 as
pH = -log10[H+]

0 7 14
acidic neutral basic

• The normal range for pH in surface water systems is 6.5 to 8.5 and for groundwater systems 6 to 8.5.
• Alkalinity is a measure of the capacity of the water to resists a change in pH that would tend to make the
water more acidic.
• The measurement of alkalinity and pH is needed to determine the corrosivity of the water.
 3a. pH: Acidity
Acidity of matter is a measure of its base neutralizing ability.
• The acidity in water is usually imparted by the dissolved carbon-di-oxide or by the
mineral acids.
• In pure water, the decrease in pH of about 0.45 occurs as the temperature is raised
by 25o C.
• Natural : Dissolution of atmospheric gases like CO 2
• Anthropological sources: Acids discharged in water by the use of insecticides,
pesticides, mining, drainage, explosives, chemical processing industries,
metallurgical operations, battery manufacture, acid rain into water bodies
• Mineral acids: HCl, H2SO4, HNO3
Problems:
• Corrosive to living organisms
• Destruction of plant tissues and death
• Death of aquatic species
• Corrosion of materials
 4: Alkalinity
Alkalinity is a measure of the water's ability to neutralize acidity.
• The natural alkalinity in water is imparted by the hydroxides, carbonates and bicarbonates.
• Carbonates and bicarbonates: required in trace amounts
• Maximum permissible limit in drinking water: 20-200 ppm
Sources
• Hydroxides, carbonates and bicarbonates of alkali metals, borates, silicates, phosphate from
industries like fertilizers, detergent, leather and paint
Problems caused by alkalinity:
• Drinking: food pipe damage – hydroxide alkalinity
• Industrial: boiler corrosion, scales and caustic embrittlement in boilers, corrosion of iron and
steel materials
Removal of Alkalinity
• Alkalinity in water can be removed by adding limited amount of HCl
Estimation of alkalinity: Mixed indicator titration method:
 5. Hardness of Water
• Hardness of water is due to presence of soluble salts of calcium, magnesium and other heavier
metals in water.
• Though caused by polyvalent metallic cations - the divalent calcium and magnesium cations are
the predominant cause for hardness; Other ions: Fe2+ and Mn2+ ions.
• Soft water: water in which the only ion is sodium - Lathers with soap.
• Hard water: water contains an appreciable quantity of dissolved minerals (Ca & Mg)
• Does not lather with soap, but produces a white scum or precipitate with soap.
• The scum or precipitate is due to the formation of insoluble soaps of calcium and
magnesium ions react with soap.

Soap with hard water Soap with soft water

Reaction of hardness causing metal ions with soap:
• Soap: Na or K salts of higher fatty acids
 Hardness causing compounds:
1. Calcium bicarbonate: Ca(HCO3)2
2. Magnesium bicarbonate: Mg(HCO3)2
3. Calcium chloride: CaCl2
4. Magnesium chloride: MgCl2
5. Calcium sulphate: CaSO4
6. Magnesium sulphate: MgSO4
Temporary hardness :
•Temporary hardness is caused by the presence of dissolved bicarbonates of calcium
•and magnesium.
•This can be removed by boiling:

Permanent hardness :
•Permanent hardness is due to presence of chlorides & sulfates of dissolved calcium, magnesium, iron &
other heavy metals.
•The salts responsible for permanent hardening are CaCl2, MgCl2, CaSO4, MgSO4, FeSO4, Al2(SO4)3
• Permanent hardness cannot be removed by boiling.
•This is also known as non –carbonate or non – alkaline hardness.
Units of hardness: Permissible limits of hardness:
1. ppm – the number of parts by weight of Range of Total hardness Classified as
CaCO3 equivalent hardness per million (106)
0-75 ppm SOFT
parts of water.
75-100 ppm MODERATELY HARD
150-300 ppm HARD
2. mg/L– the number of milligrams of CaCO3 Above 300 ppm VERY HARD
equivalent hardness per litre of water.

3. Clarke’s degree: Number of grains of CaCO3

equivaence hardness per gallon of water

4. Degree French: Parts of CaCO3 equivalence

hardness per 105 parts of water
 PROBLEMS CAUSED BY HARDNESS IN WATER
1. For domestic use:
• Wastage of soap in washing, bathing, cleaning
activities
• Wastage of fuel during cooking – hardness
increases the boiling point of water
• Dry skin & hair
• Stained sinks, bathtubs and dishware
• Faded clothes
• Scale build-up in plumbing and appliances –
frequent repair of toilet flushing, water heaters, 2. For agricultural use:

washing machine, distribution pipe lines •Hard water causes scales in water pipe line, drip irrigation
line and sprinkler nozzle
•They get choked over a period of time and there is no
uniform water supply to all crops.
•Hard water burns tips of leaves, reduces growth of the
plant and hence affects crops yield as compared to normal
water farming and
• damages the soil structure
3. For Industrial use: Effect of Hard Water in Textile Industry
Boilers, cooling towers and other industrial • Hardness in water significantly affects textile
equipment: dyeing, washing and finishing processes.
• Even levels as low as 5 to 8 mg/L are too extreme • In washing, hard water makes the yarn stiff and
for many uses (i.e. as boiler feed water). scratchy.
• Buildup of scale in pipes cause reduced flow and • Iron containing hard water creates reddish yellow
pressure drop - causing greater pumping cost color on washed fabrics.
associated, and eventually causing pipes to need to
be internally cleaned or replaced. • Insoluble soap scum and dirt on the fabrics or yarn
leads to yellowish color and uneven dying.
• Hard water in cooling towers can reduce the
effectiveness of heat transfer, causing increased • Imperfect absorption of dyes on fabric lessens the
running costs. It can also cause corrosion in the colors intensity and affects the quality of the final
towers, leading to costly repairs or filling product.
replacement of cooling towers. • An unpleasant odor may be developed.
• Scaling in boilers lead to water tubes failure and Effects of hard water in beverage industries
stress corrosion cracking, pushing up operational
costs. It also causes the need for more costly • Water should be free from any contaminants and
maintenance and repairs and will reduce the microorganisms.
lifespan of the boiler. • Hard water can change the color, taste and odor of
• All the above ultimately lead to unplanned soft drink.
turnarounds to make repairs and • Product quality is lowered
chemical/mechanical cleanings.
ESTIMATION OF HARDNESS OF
WATER:
1. Soap titration method
2. Hohner’s alkali titration method
3. EDTA method

TREATMENT METHODS FOR THE

REMOVAL OF HARDNESS OF
WATER:
1. Lime-soda process
2. Zeolite method
3. Ion exchange demineralisation
4. Reverse Osmosis
5. Electro dialysis
Estimation of hardness of water by EDTA Method:
This is a complexometric method. Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) in the form of its sodium
yields the anion.
Principle of EDTA titrations:
The quick, complete and 1:1 interaction of metal ions with EDTA leading to the formation of stable
complex is the basis for complexometric titrations.
Theory:
The hard water is buffered to a pH value of about 10 using NH 4OH-NH4Cl buffer and few drops of EBT
indicator solution are added. EBT forms a weak complex with metal ions that has wine red color
Estimation of Hardness by EDTA Method
Procedure: Step -3: Determination of permanent hardness of water:
Step – 1: Standardisation of EDTA solution:
250mL of the water sample is taken in a 500mL beaker and
The burette is filled with EDTA solution after washing and
rinsing. Pipette out 50mL of standard hard water (1mL of it boiled it till the volume is reduced to about 50mL.
must contain 1mg of CaCo3) into a 250mL conical flask, 10mL Filter and wash the precipitate with distilled water and
of buffer solution and 2-3 drops of EBT indicator are added and quantitatively collect the filtrate and washings in a 250mL
titrated against EDTA solution until the wine-red colour conical flask and made up the volume to 250mL with distilled
changes to blue. Let the volume of EDTA solution consumed water.
be V1 mL. 50mL of this water sample is titrated against EDTA solution
as in Step-1. Let the volume of EDTA solution consumed be
V3mL

Step – 2: Determination of total hardness of water:

As per the same procedure (Step-1), 50mL of the unknown Step – 4: Determination of temporary hardness:
water sample is titrated against EDTA. Let the volume of
EDTA solution consumed be V2mL.
Temporary hardness =
Total hardness – Permanent hardness
 6. Total Dissolved Salts (TDS)
• TDS - TDS stands for total dissolved solids and represents the total concentration of
dissolved substances in water.
• Caused by - Common inorganic ions: calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium
cations and carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, sulfate, and nitrate anions.
• Sources:
• Natural water, sewage, urban run-off, industrial wastewater
• Chemicals used in the water treatment process,
• Hardware or piping used to distribute water,
• Natural environmental features like salt deposits, mineral springs, seawater intrusion, and
carbonate deposits.
• Other sources may include anti-skid materials, salts used for road de-icing, stormwater,
and agricultural run-off, water treatment chemicals, and point/non-point wastewater
discharges.
Significance:
• For drinking water, the maximum permissible TDS 500 mg/L.
• Essential factor to indicate quality of the drinking water.
• It is an indicator of whether the water is too turbid or lacks the essential minerals needed by the
body.
• The problems may be concerned with staining, taste, or precipitation.
• Concerning trace metals, higher TDS level may indicate that they are present in the water.
• High TDS is associated with corrosivity, brackishness, unacceptable taste.
Estimation: By Gravimetric method:
 A clean and dry china dish is weighed
 Known volume of sample is placed in it and weighed
 Sample water is evaporated by placing the china dish on a sand bath or a hot plate
 Once the evaporation is complete, china dish cooled to RT in a desiccator
 The weight of the china dish with only the residue is measured.
 TDS is calculated from the difference in weights and expressed in mg/L
Removal:
• Ion exchange demineralization, zeolite process (partial removal), Distillation, Reverse osmosis.
 7a. Dissolved oxygen (DO)
Significance:
•Oxygen can dissolve in water upto a maximum of 8 mg/L at 25 ºC
• It maintains the health of fresh water sources such as lake and rivers.
• It is very essential for the survival and health of aquatic plants and animals
• Factors such as, presence of dissolved impurities, increase in temperature and turbidity lead to a decrease in the DO
of water
• Organic wastes such as animal manure and plant debris can be decomposed by aerobic (oxygen demanding) bacteria
and this degradation consumes dissolved oxygen (DO) in water
• Hence, DO is a measure of Oxygen demanding organic wastes in water
• Large populations of bacteria decomposing these wastes can degrade water quality by depleting DO
• This can lead to the death of fish and other oxygen consuming aquatic species
• 4 – 6 ppm is desirable for survival of aquatic life
• Any water with a DO less than 4 is termed as “Dead water”
Determination of DO in water samples:
• Titrimetric (Winkler’s method ) based on the oxidizing property of dissolved oxygen: redox reactions

• Electrometric method (using membrane electrode) based on the rate of diffusion of molecular oxygen across a membrane.
 7b. Biochemical Oxygen Demand - BOD
• BOD: Biological Oxygen Demand, is a measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) that is used by aerobic
microorganisms for the decomposition of organic matter in water.
• BOD in mg/L (or) ppm is amount of oxygen that would be consumed if all the organics in one liter of water were
oxidized by bacteria and protozoa.
• Sources of BOD include leaves and woody debris; dead plants and animals; animal manure; effluents from pulp and
paper mills, wastewater treatment plants, feedlots, and food-processing plants; failing septic systems; and urban
storm water runoff.
• Significance: Important characteristic parameter to access the self purification capability of water.
• BOD directly affects the amount of dissolved oxygen in rivers and streams.
• Sewage BOD – 100 – 150 mg/L.

• The greater the BOD, the more rapidly oxygen is depleted in the stream. This means less oxygen is available to
higher forms of aquatic life. The consequences of high BOD are: aquatic organisms become stressed, suffocate, and
die.
• If there is no organic waste present in the water - no Bacteria to decompose it: BOD is low and DO is high.
Determination of BOD:
 Estimated as BOD5 : Diluted water sample and blank are incubated for 5 days
 DO of raw water, incubated blank and incubated water sample are measured
 BOD is calculated using the formula:

Removal:
• Aeration
• ozonation
• Advanced oxidation processes which involve the formation of hydroxyl (and other) radicals
• Biological oxidation such as activated sludge process, trickling filter process
 8. Chemical Oxygen Demand-(COD)
 Defined as the amount of oxygen required for the chemical oxidation of both organic and inorganic
(oxidizable) impurities present in water
 It is measured as the content of wastewater that is susceptible to oxidation by K 2Cr2O7 / KMnO4.
 COD measures both biologically oxidizable and biologically inert organic matter (cellulose).
 Expressed in mg/L (or) ppm
COD is always higher than BOD
 COD of sewage is ~ 400 ppm
 It is an important and rapidly measured variable for characterizing water bodies, sewage, industrial wastes, and
treatment plant effluents.
Determination of COD:
• For COD analysis the water is subjected to reflux using silver sulfate and potassium dichromate as catalysts.
• Organic matter will partially reduce dichromate and the remainder can be measured after titrating with
ferrous ammonium sulphate. 1 mL of 1 N K2Cr2O7 = 0.008 g oxygen
The COD of waste water sample is calculated using the formula
Vblank: Volume of FAS for blank sample ( Vblank  V ) x N x 8 x 1000
sample
COD 
Vsample : Volume of FAS for water sample Volume of waste water sample
N: Normality of FAS
 Difference between BOD and COD

While the BOD test is performed by using a population of bacteria and other microorganisms to attempt to
duplicate what would happen in a natural stream over a period of five days, the COD test uses a strong
chemical oxidizing agent (potassium dichromate or potassium permanganate) to chemically oxidize the
organic material in the sample of wastewater under conditions of heat and strong acid. The COD test has the
advantage of not being subject to interference from toxic materials, as well as requiring only two or three
hours for test completion, as opposed to five days for the BOD test.
Depending on the strength of BOD and COD, pollution in domestic water can be termed as
follows:

•The COD test is often used in conjunction

with the BOD test to estimate the amount of
non-biodegradable organic material in a
wastewater.

•In the case of biodegradable organics, the

COD is normally in the range of 1.3 to 1.5
times the BOD.
•
•When COD is more than twice that of
BOD: indicates that a significant portion of
the organic material in the sample is not
biodegradable by ordinary microorganisms.
 9. Heavy metals
Heavy metals can enter water from a number of sources, including:
• Industrial activities: Mining, petroleum refineries, electronics manufacturing, and cement plants
• Household plumbing: Corrosion of pipes, pipe coatings, coolers, and water tanks
• Natural sources: Groundwater movement, surface water seepage, and run-off, as well as natural
mineral deposits
• Other sources: Pesticides, domestic wastewater, tannery effluents, and agricultural activities
Some heavy metals that can contaminate water include:
• Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc.
• Heavy metals can be toxic to plants and living organisms, and can affect the ocean and fresh water
ecosystem.
• They can also accumulate in the food chain and drinking water sources, leading to biomagnification.
• In humans, heavy metals can cause adverse effects such as: Kidney damage, Liver failure, Gastric
problems, Mental retardation, Reproductive effects, and Carcinogenic effects.
• Some methods used to remove heavy metals from water include: reverse osmosis, chemical
precipitation, and membrane filtration.
Major sources of heavy metals in
water
Major sources of some heavy metal ions in water
Permissible limits of metals in drinking water