INTRODUCTION

Water is the most important part to help us get better laundry results
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Q1. MAIN SOURCES OF WATER FOR LAUNDRY
i. Municipal Supply
- fresh water prepared by community (general supply)

Advantages
– simple
– without risks
– no special treatment necessary

Disadvantages
– expensive
(costs for supply and for discharge in municipal sewage system)
– only economical if fresh water and effluent water charges are at a
low level

ii. Self supply by usage of

- fresh water taken from wells, springs, rivers and rain water
mainly has to be pre-treated before application in laundry

Advantages
- lower price or free of charge
- usage without treatment in non hygienic sensible processes only
(washing of wiping cloths, mats)
- often economical if high fresh water costs are high

Disadvantages

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- risks in presence of heavy metals, germs or other hazardous substances
- treatment often necessary
- therefore special facilities/devices are needed
(wells, tanks, pipe systems, analytical installations to control water
quality, treatment facilities)

Q2. COMMON IMPURITIES IN WATER

In the United States, dirty or unsafe water consists of elements called Total
Suspended Solids (TSS) that are not designed to dissolve. These solids include
dust, sand, clay and rust. They remain suspended in water and cause it to
become muddy or cloudy. They also lack the two essentials of pure water:
hydrogen and oxygen.
Hydrogen and oxygen enable drinking water to become pure and basically
dissolve most anything it comes into contact with. If consumed, suspended
impurities in water if consumed can result in a range of medical ailments and
illnesses. These include, but are not limited to:

 Cholera
 Guinea worm disease
 Typhoid
 Legionella
 Dysentery
 Malaria – most commonly associated with mosquitoes and germs in
contaminated water

Q3. VARIOUS STEPS IN WATER TREATMENT

The process of treating water may have slight differences at various locations,
based on the plant’s technology as well as the type of water that needs to be

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treated. Nevertheless, the basic principals are the same. The following section
talks about the standard processes of water treatment.
1. Coagulation / Flocculation
Coagulation is adding liquid aluminum sulfate or alum and/or polymer to
raw or untreated water. The resulting mixture causes the dirt particles in the
water to coagulate or stick together. Then, the groups of dirt particles attach
together, forming larger particles named flocs that can easily be removed via
filtration or settling.

2. Sedimentation
When water and flocs undergo the treatment process, they go into
sedimentation basins. Here, water moves slowly, making the heavy floc
particles settle to the bottom. Floc that accumulates on the bottom is known
as sludge. This is carried on to drying lagoons. Direct Filtration does not
include the sedimentation step and the floc is just removed by filtration.

3. Filtration
In filtration, water passes through a filter, which is made to take away
particles from the water. Such filters are composed of gravel and sand or
sometimes crushed anthracite. Filtration gathers together impurities that float
on water and boosts the effectiveness of disinfection. Filters are regularly
cleaned by means of backwashing.

4. Disinfection
Before water goes into the distribution system, it is disinfected to get rid of
disease-causing bacteria, parasites and viruses. Chlorine is also applied since
it is very effective.

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5. Sludge Drying
Solids that have been gathered and removed from water via sedimentation
and filtration are transferred to drying lagoons.

6. Fluoridation
Fluoridation treats water supplies of communities to adjust the concentration
of free fluoride ions to an optimal level so that dental cavities can be
reduced. It is compulsory for Hunter Water to perform water fluoridation to
conform to the NSW Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Act 1957.

7. pH Correction
To adjust pH levels, lime is combined with filtered water. This, also,
stabilizes naturally soft water so corrosion can be minimized in the water
distribution system and plumbing of customers.

Q40. APPLICATION OF WATER IN LAUNDRY

In the washing process, the water acts as a solvent for dissolving and separating
tasks compounds in stains out of clothes.
The following factors must be considered when washing:
- Ideal for cleaning water.
- Surface tension
- Hardness of water
- Metal content in the water

1. Water "ideal" for laundry

Features "ideal" of water will bring the best washing efficiency because it helps
dissolve completely and effectively promote the laundry chemicals.

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2. Surface tension of water
Clean water with large surface tension, therefore, it would be very difficult to
penetrate between the fibers and stains. Ability to penetrate between the fibers
and fiber stains is very important because it will create an environment of
solvent soluble chemicals and pull out stains from clothing. The greater the
surface tension will affect greatly to this effect after washing.
The addition of surface-active compounds in water will help reduce the tension
of water and thus increases the efficiency laundry detergent in water. Currently,
the compound into a surface integral component chemicals and washing
powder.

3. Hardness
Water is the most versatile type of solvent on earth, capable of a lot soluble
compounds. This is one of the most amazing properties of water without any
substance can be. However, due to solubility of this great, bring water to a
hassle for the quality control of laundry, this problem called "hardness".

4. Heavy Metals
Due to the versatile nature of the solvent, water contains many metal ions,
including iron and manganese are metals strong influence on the quality of
laundry. When the concentration of the two ions in the high country, it will
cause problems such as:
- The precipitate on the surface and causes discoloration of laundry
- Causing damage to the fabric

Q5. EFFECT OF WATER HARDNESS ON SOAP

Soap does not work properly in hard water. This is primarily because hard water
contains salts of calcium and magnesium. When soap is added to hard water, it
reacts with these salts to form an insoluble precipitate called scum. This scum

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sticks to the cloth and decreases the cleansing ability of the soap. In addition,
soaps do not give lather with hard water.

Hard contains calcium and magnesium ions. When soaps are dissolved in hard
water, these ions displace sodium or potassium from their salts and form
insoluble calcium or magnesium salts of fatty acids. These insoluble salts
separate as scum. This is the reason why donot work in hard water.

The minerals in hard water react with most soaps and decrease their ability to
lather properly. You can create a lather with hard soap, but it requires more soap
than soft water. The reaction of minerals in hard water also creates ‘soap scum’,
which makes it difficult to clean your body or utensils.

Q6. REMOVAL OF WATER HARDNESS

Water has minerals dissolved in it. Calcium Carbonate (CaCo3) and Magnesium
(Mg) are mostly found in water and the quantity of these minerals decides the
hardness of water. 

1. Boiling – On boiling the bicarbonates of Ca and Mg decompose into

insoluble carbonates, removed by filtration.
Ca(HCO3)2 →CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O
Mg (HCO3)2 →MgCO3 + CO2 + H2O

2. Clark’s Process – Lime is added to precipitate out as Calcium Carbonate

and Magnesium Hydroxide which are removed by filtration.
Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca (OH)2 → 2CaCO3 + 2H2O
Mg (HCO3) + Ca (OH)2 → 2 CaCO3 + Mg (OH)2 + 2H2O

3. By adding washing Soda – Ca and Mg ions are precipitated as insoluble

carbonate which is removed by filtration.
CaCl2 + Na2CO3 → CaCO3 + 2NaCl

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 MgSO4 + Na2CO3 → MgCO3 + Na2SO4

4. Ion – Exchange method – The ions responsible for hardness are exchanged
with ions that do not cause precipitation.

5. Inorganic ion exchange (permutit method) – In this method, sodium

aluminium ortho silicate known as permutit or zeolite is used to remove the
permanent hardness of the water.
  Na2 Al2 Si2 O8.KH2O + Ca++→ 2Na+ + Ca Al2 Si2 O8.xH2O

6. Organic ion exchangers (ion exchange resin) – In this method, the

permanent hardness of water is removed by using resins. Ca++/Mg++ ions
are exchanged with Cl–, SO4-2 ions are exchanged with anion exchange
resin (RNH2OH). Demineralized water is formed in this process.
2RCOOH + Ca++ → (RCOO)2Ca + 2H+
RNH2OH + Cl– → RNH2Cl + OH–
H+ + OH– → H2O

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References

1. "How Does The Dry Cleaning Process Work?". LX. 30 September 2014.
Retrieved 21 November 2014. Dry cleaning is the process of deep cleaning
clothing without using water. Usually reserved for dress clothes and delicate
fabric, it requires special equipment and detergents. Dry cleaning is typically
a 5 step process. These steps are tagging the clothes, pretreating clothes,
cleaning, quality checking, and ironing.

2. "Toxic Substances Portal - Tetrachloroethylene (PERC)". Retrieved 21

November 2014.

3. "Tetrachloroethylene (Perchloroethylene)". Retrieved 21 November 2014.

4. "The 2008 Florida Statutes (chapter: Energy devices based on renewable

resources)". 163 (4). Florida Senate. 2008. Archived from the original on
2007-05-03. Retrieved 2020-02-23.

5. "Why Clothes Shrink". NPR.org.

6. "Your Guide to Washing Clothes, Including How to Keep Whites Bright and
Darks from Fading". Martha Stewart. February 14, 2011. Retrieved March
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