11 - Air and water

8/26/21

Learning objective -
● Describe chemical tests for water using cobalt(II) chloride and copper(II)
sulfate
● Describe, in outline, the treatment of the water supply in terms of filtration and
chlorination
● Name some of the uses of water in industry and in the home

Chemical tests of water -

Cobalt(II) chloride:
CoCl2 (s) + 6H2O(l) → CoCl2.6H2O(S)
Copper(II) sulfate:
CoSu4(S) + 5H2O(l) → CuSo4.5H2O(S)

Eutrophication -
● Eutrophication is the process that can happen in a water body, like a river or a
lake, it happens when too many nutrients are added to the system.
● Eutrophication starts with fertilizers, which are rich in nutrients like nitrate and
phosphate, and are washed into the river or lake system. This leads to an
increase in nutrient concentrations in the water.
● The nutrients are food for algae. The algae grow and reproduce quickly,
forming a thick green bloom in the water. The algal bloom will absorb sunlight
shining on the water so the sunlight can't reach the bottom.
● Plants who need this light for photosynthesis will die. The algae will also start
to die when they eat up all of the nutrients and run out of food.
● Next, bacteria start to break down the dead plants and algae. That releases
more nutrients back into the water continuing the Algal Bloom Cycle. The
bacteria, with a continuing supply of food, reproduce into much larger
numbers consuming oxygen as they grow and respire.
● There is not much oxygen in the water to begin with so when the bacteria
consume it quickly
 ● it might run out completely. Water without oxygen is called Anoxic. If the
water turns anoxic all non-bacterial life in the water, including fish and other
animals, will die.
● The bacteria will use up the oxygen in the water which becomes anoxic,
causing everything living in the water to die.
● Eutrophication is one reason why we need to be careful with fertilizers when
we are growing crops.

Water pollution -
Water pollution happens when toxic substances enter water bodies such as lakes,
rivers, oceans and so on, getting dissolved in them, lying suspended in the water or
depositing on the bed. This degrades the quality of water.

Not only does this spell disaster for aquatic ecosystems, the pollutants also seep
through and reach the groundwater, which might end up in our households as
contaminated water we use in our daily activities, including drinking.

● Sources and effects of water pollution

Water pollution can be caused in a number of ways, one of the most polluting being
city sewage and industrial waste discharge. Indirect sources of water pollution
include contaminants that enter the water supply from soils or groundwater systems
and from the atmosphere via rail.

Soils and groundwaters contain the residue of human agricultural practices and also
improperly disposed of industrial wastes.

Water treatment -
Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it
appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water
supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses,
including being safely returned to the environment.

● Treatment Process -

1. Coagulation/flocculation: Raw water from terminal reservoirs is drawn into

mixing basins at our treatment plants where we add alum, polymer and
sometimes lime and carbon dioxide. This process causes small particles to
stick to one another, forming larger particles.
2. Sedimentation: Over time, the now-larger particles become heavy enough to
settle to the bottom of a basin from which sediment is removed.
 3. Filtration: The water is then filtered through layers of fine, granulated materials
— either sand, or sand and coal, depending on the treatment plant. As
smaller, suspended particles are removed, turbidity diminishes and clear
water emerges.
4. Disinfection: To protect against any bacteria, viruses and other microbes that
might remain, disinfectant is added before the water flows into underground
reservoirs throughout the distribution system and into your home or business.
Denver Water carefully monitors the amount of disinfectant added to maintain
quality of the water at the farthest reaches of the system. Fluoride occurs
naturally in our water but also is added to treated water.
5. Corrosion control: pH is maintained by adding alkaline substances to reduce
corrosion in the distribution system and the plumbing in your home or
business.

Distillation -
process involving the conversion of a liquid into vapour that is subsequently
condensed back to liquid form. It is exemplified at its simplest when steam from a
kettle becomes deposited as drops of distilled water on a cold surface.

Desalination -
Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water.
.Saltwater is desalinated to produce water suitable for human consumption or
irrigation. The by-product of the desalination process is brine. Desalination is used
on many seagoing ships and submarines.

Water cycle -

Nitrogen cycle -

Carbon cycle -

Matter - anything that takes up space or which has mass and volume. There are 3
forms of matter :
● Solid
● Liquid
● Gas

kinetic theory of energy and particle theory

Particle management

Particles and movement

Sublimation