EXPERIMENT 22 ESTIMATION OF

SALINITY OF WATER
SAMPLES

Structure
22.1 Introduction
Objectives
22.2 Materials required
22.3 Procedurc
22.4 Calculalions
0
22.5 Precautions
22.6 SAQ

22.1 INTRODUCTION

Salinity refers to the total amount of soluble salts dissolved in a kilogram of

water collectively. The salls in water include such common ions as Ca2+,MgZ+,
Kt,Na', C1-, SO2-,, HCO;, and C02,. These ions occur either naturally or added
as pollutants to 1hc cnvironmcnt. The ionic compositian of water affccts the
distribution of animals and plants in water. And dcpending on whclhcr organ-
isms can tolcratc widc fluctuations in salinity or not, thcy havc becn classified
as curyhdine and stcnol~alineanimals rcspectively. Many marine organisms arc
intolerant of dilution of sca watcr which happens due to the flow of rivers into
than causing esluarinc condition. These organisms fail to survive in estuaries.
Howcver, there arc also certain marine organisms which can tolerate the diluting
efiect.

In this Lab exercisc you will learn thc mcthod of estimation of the salinity of
watcr samples by a titrimctric method. The titrimctric mcthod can bc rcgarded
as accurate enough, although the mehod assumes that the percentage
conlposition of chloride in sca water is constanl in rclation lo all other
dissolved minerals present. In many laboratories the titrimclry h.as becn
replaced by conductivity measurements since salinity rclatcs to the total
!
dissolved salts. Howevcr, wc confine ourselves to thc salinity mcasurcment by
chloride estimation.

Objectives
At the end of this lab exercise you should be ablc to:

m definc the tcrms chlorinity and salinity of water samplcs,

estimate thc salinity 01the water samples by volumetric method, and
0

e relate thc salinity of Lhe watcr to the life of thc organisms.

' t

22.2 MATERIALS REQUIRED

1. 100 ml. conical flasks-2

Laboratory Course-I 2. 10 ml. pipettes-2

3. 50 ml burclte.

4. 0.05 N silver nitratc solution (AgNO,)

5. 5% potassium chromalc solution.

6. Water samplcs-(2 diffcrcnt water samplcs such as well water anJ rivcr
water)

22.3 PROCEDURE

1. Fill ~ h burcltc
c with 0.01 N AgNO, solution.

2. Take 10 ml. of watcr sarnplc A in a conical flask and add a fcw drops of
5% potassium chromatc solution.

3. Titrate the watcr samplcs against AgNO, solution. Thc cnd point is Lhe
appcarancc of brickrc'd colour.

4 Titratc thc sample until thc concordant valucs arc obtained. You may have
lo tilratc a minimum of two rimcs.

5. Record your rcsuIls in Lhc form of following table in your record note book.

S. No. Volume of Burette reading Volume of

water sample Initial Final. AgNO,
consumed.

6. Rcpent the cxperimcnt with samplc 13.

22.4 CALCULATIONS .

' ' lculatc

Lhc s ~ l j n ~of
l y thc wntcr sample with Lhc following formula in your
record bcok.
 Chlorosity of Water = Estimation of Salinity
of Water Sumples

Volume of AgNO, consumed x Normality of AgNO,

Volume of the sample.

CNorinity of Water = - Chlorosity of water

density of water
For practical purposes, the density of water can be takes as 1.
Salinity of Water = 0.03 + (1.805 x chlorinity of water)
-- ............................. parts per thousand
0
Calculate your results with the help of above formulae and report the salinity of
the samples.

22.5 PRECAUTIONS

Check that' your burette is properly filled without leaving any air column. For
this you may have to open the stopcock of the burette and let some AgNO, run
down. Make sure you fill the burette with AgNO, solution to read zero.

22.6 SAQ

1. You have estimated the salinity of water from two different sources. Do the
salt content of the two waters differ? If your answer is yes, what are the
factors responsible for the difference?