Lecture -III

• Hardness of Water
• Degree of Hardness
• Scale formation in Boiler
• Softening of Hard Water

081- 08 - 20

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 Hardness of Water
Soap consuming capacity of water due to
presence of Ca++ or Mg++ which react with
soap to form precipitate.
C17H35COONa or K +M+2 (C17H35COO)2M + 2 K + or Na +

Sodium or Potassium Ca or Mg stearate

stearate
Precipitate
Soap
[Where M = Ca+2 or Mg +2 ]

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Degree of hardness - the number of parts of calcium
carbonate or equivalent to various calcium and
magnesium salts present in a million parts of water by
mass. It is expressed in ppm (parts per million) or mg/L

Part per million (ppm) is the parts of calcium carbonate

equivalent hardness per 10 6 parts of water i.e.
1 part of CaCO3 equivalent hardness in 10 6 parts of
water.
mg/L is the number of milligrams of CaCO3 equivalent
hardness present per liter of water.

The choice CaCO3 is due to its molecular weight - 100

and it is the most insoluble salt that can be precipitated
in water treatment 3
 Scale formation in Boiler
• In industry water – mainly used in the production of
steam in boiler.
• Scale formation - one of the effects of boiling hard
water that reduces the heat transfer in the boiler.
The precipitation of impurities from water on the
heat transfer or metal surface on the boiler causes
scale formation.
• The precipitated matter forms hard, adhering
crust / coating on the inner walls of the boiler –
called scale
• Scales – difficult to remove even with the help of
hammer.
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 Scale formation in Boiler
• Formation of scales may be due to
1.Decomposition of bicarbonate of Ca or Mg
M (HCO3)2 Boiling MCO3 + CO2 + H2O
Ppt. Where M = Ca or Mg

2.Deposition of Calcium sulphate

The solubility of calcium sulphate decrease with the rise of temp.
Solubility of CaSO4 = 3200 ppm at 15 oC
…………………………… = 55 ppm at 230 oC
…………………………… = 27 ppm at 320 o C
CaSO4 - soluble in cold water but almost completely insoluble in
super heated water
Consequently CaSO4 gets precipitated as hard scale on heated
portion of boiler
CaSO4 scale is quite adherent and difficult to remove even with
help of hammer or chisel.
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 Scale formation in Boiler
3.Hydrolysis of magnesium salts
Dissolved magnesium salts undergo hydrolysis ( at prevailing high
temperature inside the boiler ) forming hydroxide precipitate which
forms soft type of scale.
MgCl2 + 2H2O Mg(OH)2 + 2HCl
Scale
Disadvantages of Scale Formation
1.Wastage of Fuel: Scales have a low thermal conductivity, so the rate
of heat transfer from boiler to inside water is greatly decreased . In
order to steady supply of heat to water excessive or over heating is
done and this causes increase in fuel consumption.
2.Lowering of Boiler safety. Due to scale formation over heating of
boiler is to be done to maintain the constant supply of steam. The
over heating of boiler tube makes the boiler material softer and
weaker and this causes distortion of boiler tube & makes the boiler
tube unsafe to bear the pressure of steam especially in high
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pressure boilers.
 Scale formation in Boiler
3.Decrease in efficiency: Scales may sometimes deposit in the
valves and condensers of the boiler and choke them partially.
This results in decrease in efficiency of the boiler.
4.Danger of explosion: When thick scales crack , due to uneven
expansion, the water comes suddenly in contact with over
heated iron plates. This causes in the formation of a large
amount of steam suddenly. Hence sudden high pressure is
developed which may cause explosion of the boiler.

• Softening of Hard Water

• Water used for industrial purposes (such as for steam
generation) should be sufficiently pure i.e. free from hardness
forming salts. The process of removing hardness producing salts
from water – softening of water. In industry following methods
are applied for softening of water.
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 Softening of Hard Water..
1.Lime - Soda Process: In this method calculated amounts
of lime [Ca(OH)2]and soda [Na2CO3] are used.Calcium
carbonate CaCO3 and magnesium hydroxide Mg(OH)2
precipitated are removed by filtration.
Ca2+ + Na2CO3 CaCO3 +2Na +

Mg2+ + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH) 2 +Ca2+

2.Zeolite or Permutit process. Zeolite is hydrated

sodium aluminum silicate Na2Al2Si2O8.X H2O which
has capable of exchanging Mg2+ and Ca2+ by its Na + .
For simplicity zeolite is represented by Na2Z Where Z =
Al2Si2O8.X H2O

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 Softening of Hard Water..
Na2Z + CaCl2 CaZ + NaCl

Na2Z + MgSO4 MgZ + NaCl

Exhausted zeolite can be regenerated by allowing a 10 % sodium

chloride solution. Hence this method is cheap and efficient.
3.By using Calgon. The metal ions i.e Mg2+ and Ca2+ of hard water
can be made ineffective by complexation with Calgon which is
sodium poly metaphosphate [ NaPO3]n
CaCl2 + [ NaPO3]n Nan-2 Ca(PO3)n + 2NaCl
Complex compound
The complex sodium calcium poly metaphosphate remains in
water but does not make the water hard since all the Ca2+ ions
are bound in the complex and not free.
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 Softening of Hard Water..
4.Ion exchange or de-ionization or de-mineralization process.
In this process two types of ion exchange resins are
applied simultaneously. First type of ion exchange resin is
cation exchanger and second is anion exchanger.
The hard water is first allowed to pass through the cation
exchanger in a column where all the cations in the hard
water are exchanged with H+ ions of the exchanger resin. It
is then allowed to pass through column containing the anion
exchanger resin where all the anions in the hard water are
exchanged for OH – ions of the resin. The H + ions and OH –
ions produced in two exchange reactions combine to form
water molecules. The water thus formed is completely free
from all ions and is called deionized water or demineralized
water which is as good as DW.
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Ion exchange or de-ionization or de-mineralization process.
The exhausted resins
can be regenerated
by using dilute H2SO4
and Na2CO3 solution
through respective
columns.

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 Water Pollution with reference to Turbidity
• Turbidity -the measure of relative clarity of a liquid.
• Turbidity is an optical property of water that makes
it cloudy or opaque. The higher the intensity of
scattered light, the higher the turbidity.
Maximum limit of Turbidity = 5.0 NTU

The turbidity of water - a

measurement of how clear or
cloudy it is. The cloudier the water,
the higher its turbidity.
Turbidity is measured in terms of
Nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU)
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 Water Pollution with reference to Turbidity..
• The more total suspended solids in the water, the
more the turbidity.
• Turbidity can be caused by soil erosion, waste
discharge, urban runoff, bottom feeders like carp that
stir up sediments, household pets playing in the water,
and algal growth.
• Human activities that lead to increased water turbidity
include: Soil runoff from crop fields, Construction sites,
Streambank erosion, Runoff containing fertilizer etc.
• Measuring turbidity -important when measuring the
quality of water. Turbidity - used to indicate the presence
of pathogens, bacteria, and other contaminants such as
lead and mercury which are harmful to both aquatic life
and human health. 14
 Adverse effects of Turbidity in Water
• Turbidity in drinking water can provide shelter and nourishment
for pathogens.
• Pathogens regrowth in drinking water can cause water borne
diseases
• Many waterborne diseases can cause significant illness with
symptoms such as headache, stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea
and vomiting
• Turbidity of water - also environmentally harmful. Suspended
particles in streams, lakes and other bodies of water can reduce
light penetration, decrease ecological productivity and affect
habitat quality and recreational values. This effect can cause
lakes to fill faster, and it can cause increased siltation and
sedimentation in streams, which may harm fish and other
wildlife habitats. Particles can also serve as attachment points
for pollutants such as bacteria and metals.
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 Adverse effects of Turbidity in Water…
• Photosynthesis will also be reduced which reduces the
productivity of marine flora like seaweed and bay grass in water
bed.
• Cloudiness reduces the aesthetic quality of water bodies which
can have a negative impact on recreation and tourism

Recreation- refreshment of strength and spirits after work

Siltation-the process of blocking something with sand or soil
Aesthetic quality of water- taste, odor, color, hardness, turbidity
etc.

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