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The Chemistry Of Natural Waters

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Emily Schwarz
12 November 2014
The Chemistry of Natural Waters
Section: 106
Group Members: Shaily Shah, James Shank, Aaron Selnick
TA: Natalie Petrillo

Introduction: “Hard water” is a term used to refer to water which has high concentrations of magnesium, calcium, and iron ions. (Lerner, 2014) In this experiment, concentrations of magnesium and calcium ions were the main focus.
Water hardness is an important factor to consider because it has a great effect on the everyday lives of people around the world. In most places, drinking hard water does not contribute a significant amount of calcium or magnesium towards the recommended amount for the human diet, but it can in locations where the drinking water is extremely hard. The …show more content…

Molar concentration is simply the number of moles of ions per liter of water. Parts per million is a ratio of weights, and for every one part per million, there is 1 pound of solute for every million pounds per liter. (Hardness)
EDTA titration, as well as AA (atomic absorption spectrophotometry) are two main ways in which water hardness is measured. EDTA is performed by adjusting the pH of the water with the use of a buffer, then adding an indicator to the solution, which will turn red if calcium ions are present. If only magnesium is present in the solution, it will remain blue. Then an EDTA solution is added to the solution. The complete reaction of all calcium and magnesium ions with the EDTA solution is represented by the change in color of the solution from red to blue. (Thomson, 2014)AA, or atomic absorption spectrophotometry, is performed by turning the water into an aerosol, which is then burned, and the internal computer system of the machine uses the absorbance of light to provide a number which corresponds to the concentration of ions in the water sample. (The Royal Society of Chemistry Fine Chemicals and Medicinals Group). It is important to use more than one method to measure water hardness, especially a method which relies mainly on the use of technology, to lower the possibilities for human error, as well as to provide multiple values of hardness for comparison.
In order to remove the calcium and magnesium ions from water, it is put

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