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The Effects Of Water On Natural Water Essay

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Water is one of the most important resources that earth can offer. Indeed, water is essential to the survival of all living things. Pure water must be colorless, tasteless and odorless. However, sometimes, natural water can contain impurities. Indeed, dissolved solute coming minerals in rocks and soils are often present in natural water.
The cations Mg2+and Ca2+ are the most common dissolved compounds found in natural water. The presence of the dissolved Cations Ca2+ and Mg2+ (and other polyvalent cations) gives natural waters chemical properties that are often evaluated as hardness.1 Water is hard when it contains a high concentration of cations Ca2+ and Mg2+ and it is considered soft when it contains a low concentration of cations Ca2+ and Mg2+. Water Hardness is often measured in Concentrations in Molarity (M), parts per million (ppm/ mg per L) and grain per gallon (gpg).
The degree of hardness standard as established by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (S-339) and the Water Quality Association (WQA) is2:

Degree of Hardness
Grains per Gallon (gpg) ppm (or mg/L) Soft
10.5
>180

It is very important to know and understand the hardness of water in order to limit the damages hardness does and to improve the treatments for the problems of Hardness. Hard Water can damage household plumbing and other appliances; it decreases the efficiency of boilers, jets and tubes are blocked, it causes the skin to become itchy and dry, it causes energy inefficiencies. It

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