Lecture No.

2
Environmental Engineering
Water Chemistry & its Characteristics
Engr. M. Shakeel Hassan
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Civil Engineering
(Water Resource Engineering and Management)
 General Details
Department of Civil Technology
 Course: Environmental Engineering
 Instructor: Engr. Muhammad Shakeel Hassan
 Lecture No. 02/16
 Week No. 02
 Class: B. Tech Civil
 Semester: 6th
 Course Code: MCH-218
 Session: Fall-2020.
Environmental Engineering
 Water Pollution

Water Chemistry & its Characteristics.

Introduction to Sources of Pollution.

Effect on Water Quality.

Control Parameters.

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Water Chemistry & its
Characteristics

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 Forms of Water
Water is naturally
occurring and abundant
substance that exists in
solid, liquid and gas
forms:
1. < 0o C : Ice
2. 0o C - 100o C : Liquid
3. > 100o C : Steam

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 Water Chemistry
• Water is an unusual compound with
unique physical characteristics.
• Water is the compound of life. All living
organisms are dependent on water. All
living things are 70–90% water.
• Water is the most abundant compound in
Earth’s biosphere.
• Water has a strong affinity for a large
variety of substances, thus pure water is
incredibly rare.
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 Water Chemistry
• Water is a Polar Molecule.
-has oppositely charged ends.
 Water consists of an oxygen atom bound to
two hydrogen atoms by two single covalent
bonds.
 Oxygen has unpaired & paired electrons
which gives it a slightly negative charge
while Hydrogen has no unpaired electrons
and shares all others with Oxygen.
 Leaves molecule with positively and
negative charged ends.
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Water Chemistry

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 Water Chemistry
• The most important property of water is the
ability to form hydrogen bonds.
• Within a water molecule, the bonds between
oxygen and hydrogen are highly polar.
• Partial electrical charges develop:
- oxygen is partially negative
- hydrogen is partially positive

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 Water Chemistry
• Hydrogen bonds are weak attractions
between the partially negative oxygen of
one water molecule and the partially
positive hydrogen of a different water
molecule.
• Hydrogen bonds can form between water
molecules or between water and another
charged molecule.

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Water molecules form Hydrogen bonds
slightly positive
charge

hydrogen bond
between (+) and (-)
areas of different
water molecules
slightly negative
charge Environmental Engineering 10
Water Chemistry

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 Water Chemistry
• The polarity of water causes it to be
cohesive and adhesive.
Polarity: unequal charge distribution in a
molecule resulting in a – region and a +
region.
cohesion: water molecules stick to other
water molecules by hydrogen bonding.
adhesion: water molecules stick to other
polar molecules by hydrogen bonding.
Environmental Engineering
 Water Chemistry
• Water clings to polar
molecules through
Hydrogen Bonding.
• Cohesion controls
Surface tension.
- a measure of the
force necessary to
stretch or break the
surface of liquid. Cohesion
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 Water Chemistry
• Adhesion refers to
attraction to other
substances.
• Water is adhesive to
any substance with
which it can form
Hydrogen bond.

Adhesion
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 Properties of Water
1. Water has a high Specific heat.
- A large amount of energy is required to
change the temperature of water.
Specific Heat:
Amount of heat that must be absorbed or
expended to change the temperature of 1g
of a substance 1o C.

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 Properties of Water
2. Water has high Heat of Vaporization.
- Large amount of Hydrogen bonds are
broken when Heat is applied.
Heat of Vaporization:
Amount of energy required to change 1g of
liquid water into a gas (586 calories).

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 Properties of Water
3. Solid Water (Ice) is less dense than liquid
water.
• Ice is less dense than water: the molecules are
spread out to their maximum distance
Density = mass/volume

Same mass but a

larger volume 17
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 Properties of Water
Water bodies freeze from top to bottom.

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 Properties of Water
4. Water is a Universal Solvent.
• A liquid that is a completely homogeneous
mixture of two or more substances is
called a solution.
– A sugar cube in a glass of water will
eventually dissolve to form a uniform
mixture of sugar and water.

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 Properties of Water
• The dissolving agent is the solvent and the
substance that is dissolved is the solute.
– In our example, water is the solvent and
sugar the solute.
• In an aqueous solution, water is the
solvent.
• Water is not really a universal solvent, but
it is very versatile because of the polarity
of water molecules.
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 Properties of Water
• Water is an effective solvent as it can form
hydrogen bonding with polar molecules.
-Water dissolves polar molecules and ions
by hydrogen bonding.

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 Properties of Water
5. Water transports molecules dissolved in it.
– Blood, a water-based solution,
transports molecules of nutrients.
– Nutrients dissolved in water get transported
through plants.
– Unicellular organisms that live in
water absorb needed dissolved substances.

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 Properties of Water
6. Water is Transparent.
• The fact that water is clear allows light to
pass through it:
– Aquatic plants can receive sunlight.
– Light can pass through the eyeball
to receptor cells in the back.

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 Properties of Water
7. Water can form ions.
H2O  OH-1 H+1
+ hydroxide ion
hydrogen ion
• Hydrogen ion (H+1) is the basis of the pH
scale.

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 Properties of Water
Most biological buffers consist of a pair of
molecules, one an acid and one a base.
BUFFER SYSTEM IN HUMAN BLOOD

ACID BASE

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 Properties of Water
8. Density of Water:
• Mass density is mass per unit volume and is
measured in Kg/m3.
• Dissolved impurities change the density in
direct proportion to their concentration
and their own density.
• In environmental engineering applications,
it is common to ignore the density increase
due to impurities in water.
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 Properties of Water
8. Density of Water: (Contd…)
• Environmental Engineers do not ignore
the density of matter when dealing with
high concentrations, such as thickened
sludge.
• Density of water at 3.98OC = 1000
Kg/m3.

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 Properties of Water
9. Specific Weight:
• Specific Weight is the weight (force) per
unit volume, measured in units of KN/m3.
• The specific Weight of a fluid is related to
its density by acceleration of gravity, g,
which is 9.81 m/s2.
• Specific Weight of water is 9.81 KN/m3.

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 Viscosity:
• All substances, including liquids, exhibit a
resistance to movement, an internal friction.
The higher the friction, the harder is to
pump the liquid.
• A measure of friction is viscosity.
• Viscosity is presented in two types:
1. Dynamic Viscosity or Absolute Viscosity “µ”
2. Kinematic Viscosity “v ”
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