Water is a vital nutrient needed for the survival of all species. One quality of water that was observed in this lab is known as the “hardness” of water. Hardness is caused by the presence of polyvalent cations that dissolve in the water as it moves through soil and rock.1 The main minerals that give water a hard quality are Ca2+ and Mg2+ therefore, a sample containing a large concentration of calcium and magnesium is considered hard while a sample containing little or no calcium and magnesium is considered soft.3 Hard water is not harmful to the body but it proves to be a problem when dealing with daily household chores such as doing dishes, laundry, and even bathing. When combined with soap, hard water produces an insoluble precipitate, known as soap scum, that lessens the effectiveness of soap and requires more to remove.4 Hard water also interferes with industrial processes due to the formation of a precipitate known as scale. Scale tends to be found in pipes, boilers, and other devices used in industrial processes as it is formed when hard water is heated. This proves to be a major problem as the scale formation reduces the water flow, greatly decreases the heat transfer process, and eventually requires the metal in the devices to be replaced, which is a very expensive process. Therefore, many industries require the use of soft water to perform their everyday functions.2 The hardness of water can be measured in units of parts per million (ppm) or grains per gallon.
Having a hard water with Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions at home could be an annoying thing for many people. When hard water is heated the minerals in it precipitate out including the Ca+ and Mg+2 ions, these mineral start to form a coat on shower doors, bath tops, soap scums which result of addition of soap to hard water and people will find difficulty cleans with soap since hard water lose some affections in dissolving soaps as soaps get mixing with ions and less soap will be dissolving. As a response of this hard water problems water softener came to the market. Water softener works by exchange the hard water ions Ca2+ and Mg2+ with slats such as Na+ and k+ this way the hard water ions will be reduced or eliminated leading to better water quality [2].
In the Chemistry of Natural Waters Lab we were to collect a sample of water, ranging from a fountain, stream, bottle, or tap water. After we collected the samples we all did many tests to see what the hardness was for each one. Water hardness is determined by the amount of Calcium and Magnesium in the water.(2) Water that has more Calcium or Magnesium is considered to be harder than water with less of those two elements. When you use soap and detergent, this is where you see water hardness coming into play in everyday life when you are washing things.
Abstract: During this lab, the pH of water in soil from a man made garden, a deciduous forest, and a river bank were tested after leaving it in containers for one, two, and three hours, coming out to a total of three trials with three different soils all together. After testing the pH of the water when being added to the soil for the desired amount of time and comparing it to the original water with no soil added, is then when each pH difference was observed and recorded in a a notebook, while pictures were taken of the experiment being conducted.
Home testing water kits, sourced from Pet Barn will indicate the type of minerals in each batch of water. This information is helpful as it is an easy way to test water quality firsthand. Furthermore, this method is cost effective while still providing an accurate result to base my evidence on.
The results for the “Total Hardness” test varied between 20 ppm -128 ppm. The “Total Alkalinity” results varied between 28 ppm – 84 ppm. The results for the “Iron” test were between 0 ppm – 1 ppm. For the “Chloride” the results were as low as 20 ppm and went all the way to 8,000 ppm, but for most part the results were from 20 ppm – 60 ppm. The “Color in Water Low Range” test showed that the max APHA Color was 20 and the lowest APHA Color was 0, which is a great result. Results for the “Turbidity Column” test were Not Applicable (N/A). For both the “Chromate” and “Copper” test the results were 0 ppm. The results for “Zinc” varied between 0 ppm – 2
The data from the TDS analysis (table 2) show that tap water Mifflin hall, well water Wyckoff and stream water Raleigh has a higher amount of total dissolved solid compared to tap water Harleysville and Tap water Yosemite that have a low amount of total dissolved solid. From these observations, we can conclude that tap water Harleysville and tap water are softer than Yosemite tap water Mifflin Hall, well water Wyckoff and stream Water Raleigh.
Water: a necessary facet to all living things. For animals, water can be a home or a drink. As for humans, the uses of water are endless. Not only do we use water as a beverage or washing clothes or dishes, but we also use water for toilets, various kinds of plumbing and other things that aren’t as easily identifiable. As of 2005, this 70% of our Earth has been manipulated and used for thermoelectric power (41.5%), irrigation (37%), domestic affairs (8.5%), public supply (5.4%), industry (5%) and aquaculture (2.6%).1 The importance of water is infinite, not only to our way of life, but also our lives. We need to drink water to ensure the health of individual cells of the body, lubricate joints, moisten mucous membranes of the organs and many other vital bodily functions.2 Not only do we expect the availability of water, but it is highly important to humans and all living things. Although it is such an integral part of our Earth, one may ask about some of its properties and characteristics.
For example, sodium chloride is an ion because it components are oppositely charged which are Na+ and Cl-. The ions were measured in the lab by the conductivity meter. There is a straight direct relationship between salinity and conductivity which means that whenever salinity increases conductivity also increases and when salinity decreases conductivity also decreases. If there is less water, but still the same amount of ions, I would expect that conductivity would increase, as there is more ions in less amount of space which makes the salinity increase and as a result the conductivity also increases. The standard curve is a curve that is used to determine the value of unknown quality. It is used for this lab to determine the salinity of the Seven River estuary. The standard curve enabled us to experimentally determine the relationship between two quantities which are the salinity and conductivity. The dilution was made by putting together each part of the sample which were the distilled water and the salted water. We the distilled water in a separate breaker and the NaCl solution in another breaker. We also had a measuring cylinder to use when we were testing the samples. Then, we start using doing each sample that we had and after measuring them we measure the conductivity by the conductivity meter by plugging the conductivity probe in the breaker to get the amount of conductivity in each sample Furthermore, we had to
These ions along with chloride and sulfate ions are very common in our water supply and typically we simply learn to deal with hard water as a way of life in Kentucky. If you need or want to reduce the amount of these ions, especially calcium and magnesium, consider getting a water filter for your faucet tap or refrigerator.
The Importance Of Water To Living Organisms Water is normally the most abundant component of any living organism. As most human cells are approximately 80% water and 60% of the human body is made up of it, it is extremely important in many different ways to both the survival and the well being of living organisms. Evolutionists believe that life probably originated in water and even today thousands of organisms make their home in it. Water also provides the medium in which all biochemical reactions take place. The importance of water to living organisms originates from its many properties including its solvent properties, its high specific heat capacity, its high latent heat of vaporization,
Water hardness is caused by the presence of the dissolved divalent cations Ca2+ and Mg2+ as well as numerous other polyvalent cations. Water that contains large quantities of Ca2+ and Mg2+ are said to be hard. Likewise water with very low concentrations of those divalent cations is said to be soft. The accepted ranges for these values are indicated in the table
Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, crystalline substances which have a fixed structure and chemical composition. Minerals are an important part of Geology, especially when studying Crystal and mineral growth. Understanding how crystals grow and the difference between slow and fast cooling rates is also important in Geology. Knowing the difference between cooling rates is important because cooling rate changes the texture of rocks and minerals. The purpose for the Crystal Growth experiment is to identify which Solubility and temperature produces larger crystals, and to simulate natural crystal growth. We will achieve the results we desire by conducting the experiment thoroughly and correctly, as well as correctly
Thesis statement: Fresh and clean water is vital to the very existence of the human race.
Hard water is the water that has a high amount of mineral in it, usually Ca2+ and Mg+. These cations enter the source of water by leaching from minerals within a wet underground layer of water- bearing rock, or an aquifer. According to the WHO, hard water is not harmful to human’s health but it’s a serious problem in the water industry. Household plumbing and appliances are also greatly affected by hard water conditions. Some of the effects include clogged pipes, water heater inefficiency and hard scaling. Hard water is also linked to decreased water flow or water pressure and seized (frozen) valves in faucets,
Table 3: Hardness readings of four sample hardness test results in 10 minutes after quenching into water