Impurities present in water

CHY101 Dr. P. Vairaprakash, SCBT, SASTRA 1

 Removal of impurities for drinking water

CHY101 Dr. P. Vairaprakash, SCBT, SASTRA 2

 Sterilization
• Carried out for the water utilized in Domestic usage
• Ozonolysis –Highly unstable ozone decomposes to
release nascent oxygen which kills bacteria
𝑂3 −−−−−→ 𝑂2 + 𝑂
𝑛𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛
• UV Treatment – UV radiation kills the bacteria
• Chlorination – Bubbling 𝐶𝑙2 gas to water generates HOCl
(Negatively charged 𝐶𝑙𝑂−species) and decomposed to
nascent oxygen which kills the bacteria
𝐶𝑙2 + 𝐻2𝑂 −−→ 𝐻𝑂𝐶𝑙 + 𝐻𝐶𝑙
𝐻𝑂𝐶𝑙 −−→ 𝐻𝐶𝑙 + [𝑂]

CHY101 Dr. P. Vairaprakash, SCBT, SASTRA 3

 Reagents used in Chlorination
• To avoid the use of toxic chlorine gas, other reagents are used
• Bleaching powder (Calcium oxychloride, 𝐶𝑎𝑂𝐶𝑙2 )
𝐶𝑎𝑂𝐶𝑙2 + 𝐻2𝑂 −−→ 𝐶𝑎 𝑂𝐻 2 + 𝐶𝑙2
𝐶𝑙2 + 𝐻2𝑂 −−→ 𝐻𝑂𝐶𝑙 + 𝐻𝐶𝑙
𝐻𝑂𝐶𝑙 −−→ 𝐻𝐶𝑙 + [𝑂]

• Sodium hypochlorite (𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐶𝑙)

𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐶𝑙 + 𝐻2𝑂 −−→ 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 + 𝐻𝑂𝐶𝑙

• Chloramine (𝐶𝑙𝑁𝐻2 )
𝐶𝑙𝑁𝐻2 + 𝐻2𝑂 −−→ 𝐻𝑂𝐶𝑙 + 𝑁𝐻3 𝗍

CHY101 Dr. P. Vairaprakash, SCBT, SASTRA 4

 Chlorination - Drawbacks
• Bleaching powder – Introduces 𝐶𝑎 2+hardness
• Excess chlorinating agent
• Produce disagreeable odor
• Introduce bad taste to water
• Cause irritation to mucous membrane

• Removal of excess chlorine

• Chlorinated water passed through a bed of
activated carbon
• Treating with ammonia or small quantities of
reducing substances (𝑆𝑂2 𝑜𝑟 𝑁𝑎2 𝑆𝑂3 )

CHY101 Dr. P. Vairaprakash, SCBT, SASTRA 5

 Break point chlorination
• To add the precise amount of chlorine required to
kill all the microorganisms
• To assure the complete destruction of
microorganisms
• To avoid the excess usage of chlorinating agents

• Break point chlorination

• A plot (chlorine dose vs residual chlorine)

CHY101 Dr. P. Vairaprakash, SCBT, SASTRA 6

 Break point chlorination
5
Formation of Destruction of
chloramines & chloro
other chloro compounds
4

compounds
Residual chlorine,

Oxidation of oxidizable
3

Total
chlorine
Free residual
2

chlorine
impurities
ppm

residual
1

Combined
Breakpoint chlorine
residual
0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Chlorine dose, ppm
CHY101 Dr. P. Vairaprakash, SCBT, SASTRA 7
 Specifications (Indian standards)
for Drinking water
Parameter WHO (mg/L) ISI (mg/L) US (mg/L)
Appearance Clear Clear Clear
Smell Odorless Odorless Odorless
Taste Pleasant Pleasant Pleasant
Turbidity <10NTU < 10 NTU < 10 NTU
pH 6.5 – 9.2 6.5 – 8.5 6.5 – 8.5
Total hardness 500 300 -
Chlorides < 250 250 250
Sulfates < 250 150 250
Fluoride < 1.5 0.6 – 1.2 1.5
Total dissolved solids 500 500 < 500
Iron 1.0 0.3 < 0.3
Zinc - - 5.5
Lead 0.1 0.1 < 0.05

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Mercury - 0.001 0.001
Arsenic 0.05 0.05 0.05
Cadmium 0.01 0.01
Chromium (Cr6+) - 0.05 0.05
Phenol 0.002 0.001 0.001
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) - - -
Pesticides (total) - Absent Absent
Microorganism 0 0 0
Chemical oxygen demand 10.0 4.0 4.0
Biological oxygen demand 6.0 - -
Dissolved gas like H2S, CO2, and NH3 0 0 0

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 Water specification for different sectors

Healthcare: Water for injection must have the highest level of chemical purity and
must be completely sterile, i.e. free from pathogens. Injection grade was prepared
through distillation i.e. by means of condensing clean steam and also obtained by high
pressure reverse process osmotic membrane process.
Electronic industry: Ultrapure water is mainly used in the electronics industry for
critical application, including semi-conductors and printed circuit board. It has been
purified to very strict specification, containing only H2O where H+ and OH- in
equilibrium.
Construction industry: Quality of water for construction industry is same as
potable water. The water should be free from impurities such as suspended solids,
dissolved salts, sewage, oils and organic matter.

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