HARDNESS OF WATER

FORMATION OF HARD WATER

• All rainwater is naturally acidic • Other rock deposits would contain
due to the fact that carbon calcium sulphate and magnesium
dioxide gas dissolves in the sulphate and these salts would
rainwater forming carbonic acid dissolve in the water
H2CO3, which is a weak acid
• This acidic rainwater flows over • The presence of calcium or
rock deposits containing calcium magnesium ions in the water makes
carbonate or magnesium the water “hard”.
carbonate resulting in the
production of calcium hydrogen
carbonate or magnesium
hydrogen carbonate in the water
HARD WATER 1 OF 2
• “Hard” water does not form a
lather with soap very easily, even
when the lather is formed, it
does not have a large volume,
while the opposite is true for
“soft” water
• Hard water contains calcium
and/or magnesium ions
• Hard water can be either be
permanently hard or temporarily hard.
Temporary hard water would contain
either or both the compounds calcium
hydrogencarbonate Ca(HCO3)2 or
magnesium hydrogen carbonate
Mg(HCO3)2.
• To make the water soft, the water can be
boiled which causes the hydrogen
carbonates to decompose to form
calcium carbonate and magnesium
carbonate. This occurs in kettles and the
white solid (scale or fur) seen in kettles is
the solid carbonate.
HARD WATER 2 OF 2
• Permanently hard water contain
either or both calcium sulphate
or magnesium sulphate. These
compounds cannot be removed
by heat because neither calcium
sulphate nor magnesium
sulphate are not decomposed by
heat.
• However by using simple distillation,
the addition of aqueous sodium
carbonate solution OR the use of an
ion-exchanger (which removes
calcium and magnesium ions and
adds sodium ions), it can also be
made soft.
END OF TOPIC HARDNESS OF WATER!