“A STUDY ON HARDNESS OF WATER AND ITS CAUSES”

A PROJECT WORK SUBMITTED FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENT IN CHEMISTRY OF CLASS XI

By
Prashant kumar yadav
Roll Number: 27
Section: A

Submitted to
Department of Chemistry
V.S Niketan College
Tinkune, Kathmandu
(2023)
V.S Niketan College
Tinkune, Kathmandu
 Phone no: 01-4621787

We certify that “thisproject is

satisfaction in the scope of the use ofchemistry
application in the partial fulfillment forthe
requirement of 10+2
in Chemistry Science Stream.”

Evaluation Committee

Principal/ Vice Principal/ Program Coordinator Head of Department

Department of Science Mr. Hari Prasad Silwal
V.S Niketan College Department of Chemistry
Tinkune, Kathmandu V.S Niketan College
Tinkune, Kathmandu

Date:
Date:………………… …………………

(External Examiner) (Internal Examiner/

Supervisor)

Date:………………… Date:…………………
ABBREVIATIONS
1.etc: Et Cetera
2.soln: Solution
3.Na: Sodium
4.K: Potassium
5.Mg: Magnesium
6.WHO: World Health Organization
 ACKNOWOLEDGEMENT
Every organized report requires a lot of hard work and seeks a lot of
helping hands. Up to the completion of this project report, we were
not so far from this strategy or rule.

First of all, I would like to thank HOD Mr.Hari Prasad Silwal sir,
My supervisor Mrs. Sabina Maskey and all the Chemistry
teachers for their proper guidance, encouragement and moderation
during my classes. It would not have been possible without kind
support and help of our chemistry teachers. Plus, I owe thank to Vice
Principal sir Mr.Ranjit Pandit, Program Coordinator Ma’am Mrs.
Jyoti Rajbhanadri, Mr. Gyan Bahadur Chaudhary sir and my
dear friends for their continuous support and help on the completion
of this report.

Everything I have done will be worthless if I forget my parents; I am

very thankful for their support, love and care since the day of my
birth.

At last, I would like to remember and thank every individual who

have offered assistance, encouragement, co-operation and helping
hand for completing my lap report successfully.
INDEX

CONTENTS PAGE NO:

Introduction 1&2
Objectives 3
Methodology / Process 3
Results and Discussion 3
Findings 4
Conclusion 4
Recommendation 4
Bibliography 5
INTRODUCTION
Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with
"soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through
deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum,[1] which are largely made
upof calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbonates and sulfates.

TYPES OF HARDNESS
A. Temporary Hardness: It is due to the presence of bicarbonates of
calcium or magnesium or both in the solution.
CO2 + H2O → H2CO3
CaCO3 + H2CO3 → Ca(HCO3)2
Or, CaCO3+ H2O + CO3 → Ca(HCO3)2
The bicarbonates of magnesium and calcium are formed in water
because their carbonates react with carbondioxide and water and are
changed to bicarbonates.
The hardness is called temporary for it can be removed by easy
means, like boiling etc.
B. Permanent Hardness: It is due to the presence of sulphates and
chlorides of calcium and magnesium. The hardness is called
permanent for it cannot be removed by easy means like boiling etc. as
these salts are stable towards heats. The rocks contain chlorides and
of magnesium and calcium and these get dissolved when water flows
over these rocks.
CAUSES OF HARDNESS
Natural waters contain salts of metals as the non-volatile soluble
impurities and the cause of hardness of water is due to the presence of
the soluble calcium and magnesium salts as bicarbonates sulphates
and chlorides.
When these salts are present in water, it does not produce lather with
soap. This is because soap is sodium or potassium salt of certain fatty
acids. One of such acids is stearic acid (CH3COO). When hard water
is treated with soap solution, cations of calcium and magnesium salts
replace sodium or potassium ions of the salts of the organic acid,
which are insoluble and form curdy white precipitates destroying
colloidal state of soap in the solution. Thus no lather is produced until
all the calcium and magnesium ions have reacted with soap.
MgSO4 + C17H35COO-Na+ → (C17H35COO)2Mg + Na2SO4
Sod. Stearate mag stearate
(soap) (curdy ppt.)

When sufficient soap has been consumed for precipitating calcium

and magnesium salts, only then lather is produced. Therefore, much
of the soap is wasted to precipitate the calcium and magnesium salts.
Thus hard water is not suitable for washing purposes.
Soap is the sodium salt of an organic acid of high molecular mass.
Soap is exactly the same chemical nature as common salt NaCl. The
complex group C17H35COO- of sodium stearate corresponds to the CI
of sodium chloride. For convenience, it is often written NaSt, the St
being used as a substitute for the stearate group C7H5COO. The
stearate groups form colloid in water which is responsible for
cleansing dirt.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project work is to study on hardness of water and
its causes. This project, if done well, will help and my mates to gain
knowledge and insight about water, its hardness and causes about hard
water forms. It will also enhance our skills and abilities on both
mental and multimedia.

METHODOLOGY / PROCESS
Hardwater contains soluble calcium and magnesium bicarbonates
sulphates and chlorides. The methods that can be used to determine
water hardness are: titration with EDTA, atomic absorption
spectroscopy and gravimetric analysis. If the cations of soluble salts
are converted into insoluble ions can be easily removed then the water
left will be soft. This is the principle upon which the softening of
water depends.

RESULTS
As a result, the calcium and magnesium present in the hard water are
beneficial for strengthening teeth and cations. WHO says,” It also acts
as dietiary supplement and has proven to improve bowel movements
and reduce constipation”. Likewise, in industries it contributes to the
scaling in boilers, cooling towers and other equipments and avoid
breakdown. On other side of hard water, it does not produce lather
with soap. Therefore, much of the soap is wasted to precipitate the cal.
and mag. Thus, hard water is not suitable for washing purposes.

FINDINGS
Hard water contains cal. and mag. Sulphates and chlorides
respectively.
When hardwater is treated with soap soln. cations of cal. and mag.
Salts replace Na and K ions of acids precipitates destroying colloidial
state of soap in the soln. Hence, no lather is produced and not suitable
for laundry. Temporary hardness can be removed by boiling and by
adding (Clark’s process).Likewise permanent hardness can be
removed by adding of washing soda or caustic soda or trisodium
phosphate, permuitts process, ion exchange resins.

CONCLUSION
Analyzing the hardness of water was the main important part of this
project. Surprisingly, there are more calcium in distilled water than in
tap water. Tap water was expected to have more calcium. However,
distilled did. The amount of calciumnitrate in filtered water is less
than all the other samples which is not surprising. Water in Florida is
not that hard and does not contain too much calcium.

RECOMMENDATION
If the water supply of a town is too hard, because of the high
percentage of dissolved solid matter which it contains, an individual
firm may consider establishing a new water industries there which
will incur the softening of the water. The water industries should use
NaCO3 or NaOH, etc. In addition to this individuals should concern
the related authorities for the test of water and is it beneficial for
health or not>

REFERENCES / BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Chemistry Textbook
2. https://byjus.com/jee/hardness-of-water-types-and-removal/
3. https://www.britannica.com/science/hard-water
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water