EP317 ENVIROMENTAL ENGINEERING&ABATEMENT PROCESSES

SEMESTER JAN-APRIL 2014

EXPERIMENT 1: ANALYSIS OF WATER SAMPLE HARDNESS TEST

STUDENT NAME

:Jannatul Fatihah binti Izaham

STUDENT ID

:1001233014

PROGRAM ENROLLED

:Chemical Engineering

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY & BUILT ENVIRONMENT

(FETBE)

EXPERIMENT 1: ANALYSIS OF WATER SAMPLE HARDNESS TEST

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Objective
1. Determine the hardness of water sample.

Introduction
Hardness was originally defined as the capacity of water to precipitate soap. Calcium and
magnesium precipitate soap, forming a curd which causes bathtub ring and dingy laundry
(yellowing, graying, loss of brightness, and reduced life of washable fabrics), and feels
unpleasant on the skin (red, itchy, or dry skin). To counteract these problems, synthetic
detergents have been developed. These detergents have additives known as sequestering agents
that tie-up the hardness ions so they cannot form the troublesome precipitates. Although
synthetic detergents overcome these problems, both soap and detergent are wasted by hardness.
Hard water forms scale, usually calcium carbonate, which causes a variety of problems.
Left to dry on the surface of glassware, silverware, and plumbing fixtures (shower doors, faucets
and sink tops), hard water leaves unsightly scale, called water spots. Scale that forms on the
inside of water pipes eventually reduces the water pipes carrying capacity. Scale that forms
within appliances, pumps, valves, and water meters causes wear on moving parts. When hard
water is heated, scale forms much faster. This creates an insulation problem inside boilers, water
heaters, and hot-water lines and increases heating costs.
In this experiement, we would determine the hardness of water by placed EGTA and
EGTA in a sample.

Apparatus
230ml of volumetric flask, 50ml of measuring cylinder, 500ml of beaker, stirrer, dropper, 9 test
tube, label paper and calorimeter
Material
Distilled water, tap water sample, Saujana water sample and UCSI water sample.
Chemical reagent
Ca+Mg indicator, alkali, EDTA and EGTA

Procedure
1. 10ml of tap water sample was measured by measuring cylinder and poured into 250ml of
volumetric flask. Distilled water was added into the volumetric flask A until it reached at
calibration point.
2. About 5ml of solution was taken out from the volumetric flask and was poured into
volumetric flask B. Distilled water was until it reached at calibration point.
3. 100ml of the solution from volumetric flask B was taken out and poured into a beaker.
About 1ml of Ca+Mg indicator and 1ml of alkali was added into the beaker. The solution
was stirred.
4. The solution that was divided into three test tube. Each test tube was placed on 10ml of
the solution. The three test tube was labelled as TA, TB and TC. Test tube TA was added
with EGTA, test tube TB was added EDTA and TC was empty.
5. All the test tube were tested by using calorimeter. The result was recorded.
6. Step 1 to 6 was repeated by using Saujana water sample and UCSI water sample by
labelled SA,SB,SC and UA,UB and UC respectively.
Result
Sample
TA
TB
TC
SA
SB
SC
UA
UB
UC

Condition
EGTA
EDTA
Empty
EGTA
EDTA
Empty
EGTA
EDTA
Empty

Mg (mg/L)
1.80
1.86
2.01
0.88
0.94
1.19
0.32
0.33
0.54

Ca (mg/L)
3.72
3.97
3.40
1.71
1.84
2.34
0.66
0.69
1.04

Discussion
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, widely abbreviated as EDTA is an aminopolycarboxylic acid
and a colourless, water-soluble solid. Its ability to "sequester" metal ions such as Ca2+ and Fe3+.
After being bound by EDTA, metal ions remain in solution but exhibit diminished reactivity.
EDTA is produced as several salts, notably disodium EDTA and calcium disodium EDTA.
EGTA (ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid) is an aminopolycarboxylic acid, a chelating
agent. It is a colourless solid that is related to the better known EDTA. Compared to EDTA, it
has a lower affinity for magnesium, making it more selective for calcium ions. It is useful in
buffer solutions that resemble the environment in living cells where calcium ions are usually at
least a thousandfold less concentrated than magnesium.
Based on the result, tape water sample has high amount of Ca and Mg compare to
Saujana water sample and UCSI water sample with 3.72 mg/L and 1.80 mg/L respectively. The
lowest on amount of Ca and Mg should be UCSI water sample with 0.66 mg/L and 0.32 mg/L
respectively.

Tape water have high amount of Ca and Mg, because the source of the tape water sample
is from reservoir which already been added up with certain mineral before distribute to places. If
we compare with the Saujana water sample and UCSI water sample, the source is from the drain
which the mineral might has been used.
Calcium has an important role in the biological processes of fish. It is necessary for bone
formation, blood clotting and other metabolic reactions. Fish can absorb calcium for these needs
directly from the water or food. The presence of free (ionic) calcium at relatively high
concentrations in culture water helps reduce the loss of other salts (e.g. sodium and potassium)
from fish body fluids (i.e. blood). In low calcium water, fish can lose (leak) substantial
quantities of these salts into the water. Fish must then use energy supplied by their feed to reabsorb lost salts. That can reduce the energy available for growth and may extend the time
necessary to grow fish to market size.
Conclusion
Water's hardness is determined by the concentration of multivalent cations in the water.
Multivalent cations are cations (positively charged metal complexes) with a charge greater than
1+. Usually, the cations have the charge of 2+. Common cations found in hard water include
Ca2+ and Mg2. The tap water sample is the hardness water which high of mineral compared to
other.
Tap water sample < Saujana water sample < UCSI water sample
The hardness of water
Error
1. The measurement should be make properly by using measuring cylinder, to prevent
parallax error.
2. Shake the solution in volumetric flask carefully, and mix it equally.
3. All the apparatus should be washed before started to used different water sample.
4. Used labeled paper properly to prevent mistake in recorded the result.
5. Used test tube rack to placed all the test tube.
References
http://water.mecc.edu/exam_prep/hardness.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water
http://naturalanswer.com/edta.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EGTA_(chemical)