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Hardness, COD, BOD

This document covers the following topics; Hardness and its types, Total solids, total dissolved solid, total suspended solids, Chemical oxygen demand, Biological oxygen demand

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waqas
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208 views

Hardness, COD, BOD

This document covers the following topics; Hardness and its types, Total solids, total dissolved solid, total suspended solids, Chemical oxygen demand, Biological oxygen demand

Uploaded by

waqas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HARDNESS:

The simple definition of water hardness is the amount of dissolved calcium and
magnesium in the water. Hard water is high in dissolved minerals, both calcium and
magnesium. You may have felt the effects of hard water, literally, the last time you
washed your hands. Depending on the hardness of your water, after using soap to wash
you may have felt like there was a film of residue left on your hands. In hard water, soap
reacts with the calcium (which is relatively high in hard water) to form "soap scum".
When using hard water, more soap or detergent is needed to get things clean, be it your
hands, hair, or your laundry.

Temporary Hardness:
 It is due to the presence of bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium. It can be easily
removed by boiling.

Permanent Hardness: 
This type of hardness can not be removed by boiling. This is due to the presence of
chlorides and sulphates of calcium and magnesium. The hardness can be removed by
the addition of some agents.

Q1. How is temporary hardness removed?


Temporary hardness is caused by dissolved calcium hydrogencarbonate, Ca(HCO 3)2.
Rainwater is naturally acidic because it contains dissolved carbon dioxide from the air. It
reacts with calcium carbonate in rocks to form calcium hydrogencarbonate (which is
soluble):
calcium carbonate + water + carbon dioxide → calcium hydrogencarbonate
Temporary hardness is removed by boiling the water. When this happens, the soluble
calcium hydrogencarbonate decomposes (breaks down) to form calcium carbonate
(which is insoluble), water and carbon dioxide:
calcium hydrogencarbonate → calcium carbonate + water + carbon dioxide
Ca(HCO3)2 → CaCO3 + H2O + CO2
Q2. What is the role of EDTA in reaction?

Ans. The ions involved in water hardness, i.e. Ca2+(aq) and Mg2+(aq), can be
determined by titration with a chelating agent, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA),
usually in the form of disodium salt (H2Y2-).

The titration reaction is:

Ca2+(aq) + H2Y2-(aq) ⎯⎯→ CaY2-(aq) + 2H+(aq)

Eriochrome Black T is commonly used as indicator for the above titration. At pH 10,
Ca2+(aq) ion first complexes with the indicator as CaIn+(aq) which is wine red. As the
stronger ligand EDTA is added, the CaIn+(aq) complex is replaced by the CaY2-(aq)
complex which is blue. The end point of titration is indicated by a sharp colour change
from wine red to blue.

Titration using Eriochrome Black T as indicator determines total hardness due to Ca2+
(aq) and Mg2+(aq) ions. Hardness due to Ca2+(aq) ion is determined by a separate
titration at a higher pH, by adding NaOH solution to precipitate Mg(OH)2(s), using
hydroxynaphthol blue as indicator.
TOTAL SOLIDS
Total solid is a measurement that includes the combination of total dissolved solids and
total suspended solids. It is a measurement that is often used in the water treatment
industry. A higher total solids level indicates that there is a high level of solid material in
a water sample. Depending on the evaluation criteria, a high level of total solids could
cause the sample to be considered contaminated.

1. Total dissolved solids is a measurement of the amount of solid material that has
gone into solution in a water sample. These solids cannot be filtered out. The
water may be evaporated to determine the level of total dissolved solids.
Potassium, sodium and magnesium are examples of these types of solids.

2. Total suspended solids is a measurement of the solids in water than are not
dissolved. Depending on the size of the solids, they can be collected by devices
such as filters. Inorganic sediment and microbes are examples of these types of
solids.

Q. If the TS and TDS of a sample are known, How would you calculate TSS?

Answer: As we know that:


TS = TDS + TSS
Therefore, by subtracting TDS from TS, we can easily calculate TSS.
Biological/Biochemical Oxygen Demand
Biological oxygen demand (BOD), also known as biochemical oxygen demand, is a
bioassay procedure that measures the dissolved oxygen (DO) consumed by bacteria
from the decomposition of organic matter. Bacteria decompose these organic materials
using dissolved oxygen, thus reducing the DO present for fish. Biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD) is a measure of the amount of oxygen that bacteria will consume while
decomposing organic matter under aerobic conditions.
Biochemical oxygen demand values are a measure of food for naturally occurring
microorganisms or, in other words, a measure of the concentration of biodegradable
organic material. When nutrients are introduced, naturally occurring microorganisms
begin to multiply at an exponential rate, resulting in the reduction of DO in the water.

Why measure BOD?


Biological oxygen demand is an important water quality parameter because it greatly
influences the concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) that will be in the water. BOD
used in calculating a water quality illustrates the relationship between BOD and water
quality—the higher the BOD, the lower the water quality, with 0 to 2 mg/L being
associated with high water quality and values greater than 10 mg/L being associated
with low water quality.

Chemical oxygen demand (COD)


Chemical oxygen demand (COD) does not differentiate between biologically available
and inert organic matter, and it is a measure of the total quantity of oxygen required to
oxidize all organic material into carbon dioxide and water. COD values are always
greater than BOD values, but COD measurements can be made in a few hours while
BOD measurements take five days.

EFFECT OF PH:
The pH of water affects the solubility of many toxic and nutritive chemicals; therefore,
the availability of these substances to aquatic organisms is affected. As acidity increases,
most metals become more water soluble and more toxic. Toxicity of cyanides and
sulfides also increases with a decrease in pH (increase in acidity). Ammonia, however,
becomes more toxic with only a slight increase in pH.
Alkalinity is the capacity to neutralize acids, and the alkalinity of natural water is derived
principally from the salts of weak acids. Hydroxide, carbonates, and bicarbonates are
the dominant source of natural alkalinity. Reactions of carbon dioxide with calcium or
magnesium carbonate in the soil creates considerable amounts of bicarbonates in the
soil. Organic acids such as humic acid also form salts that increase alkalinity. Alkalinity
itself has little public health significance, although highly alkaline waters are unpalatable
and can cause gastrointestinal discomfort.

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