Abstract

We have few sources of water, such as municipal water systems, wells, lakes, rivers, and even glaciers,
contain some level of contamination including heavy metals on this earth. The objectives of the
experiment is to determine the levels of chlorine (total and free), iron, sulphates and phosphorus in
the lake water sample and ascertain whether they comply with Malaysia Water Standards. The
reagents used are DPD Total Chlorine Powder Pillow, DPD Free Chlorine Powder Pillow, Sulfa Ver 4
Sulfate Reagent Powder Pillow, Phos Ver 3 Phosphate Powder Pillow, Ferro Ver iron Reagent Powder
Pillow and Chroma Ver 3 Reagent Powder Pillow. Five sample of 10 mL lake water with different
reagent is prepared in sample cell bottles to determine the concentration of chlorine total, chlorine
free, sulphate, phosphorus and iron using hach spectrophotometer. The concentration of chlorine
total, chlorine free, sulphate, phosphorus and iron are 0.50 mg/L, 0.17 mg/L,10.0 mg/L, 1.40 mg/L and
0.59 mg/L, respectively. The lake water does not meet with the Malaysian water quality standard,
therefore the lake water is not suitable for drinking purposes. The lake water needs to be treated in
order to be used for daily life activities The objectives are successfully obtained, therefore the
experiment is successfully done.

Theory

Polluted drinking water can be found anywhere. Even in cities or countries that claim to have healthy
water supplies, there are still cases regarding polluted water because the local water may contain
unique bacteria that human’s body is not used to. Unsafe drinking water sources can spread serious
diseases, such as potential water-borne illnesses like Hepatitis A, Typhoid Fever, viral gastroenteritis,
cholera, cyclosporiasis and schistosomiasis. Most of these diseases have different types of systems,
but they all result in abdominal pain, cramping and diarrhoea.

Chlorine, for examples, is usually added to water to deactivate and destroy disease-causing
microorganisms and is the most widely used as disinfectant in the United States. It can react with
naturally occurring organic compounds found in water supply, which in turns produce hazardous
compounds, known as disinfection by-products (DBPs). Trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids
are common DBPs. It is undeniably potentially carcinogenic especially to organs such as kidney and
liver. Due to this, federal regulations in the United States of America require regular monitoring of the
concentrations of these compounds in the distribution systems of municipal water systems.
Nevertheless, the WHO states that the risks to health from DBPs are extremely small in comparison
with inadequate disinfection.

The Secondary Drinking Water Regulations recommend a maximum concentration of 250 mg/L for
sulfate ions (SO42-). Sulfate is in fact occurs in almost all natural waters. Sulfate is indeed one of the
major dissolved constituents in rainwater. High concentrations of sulfate in drinking water cause a
laxative effect when combined with magnesium and calcium. Bacteria which in fact attacks and
reduces sulfates, causes the formation of hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S).

Phosphorus occurs naturally in rocks and other mineral deposits. Technically, the rocks release the
phosphorus as phosphate ions which are soluble in water and the mineralize phosphate compounds
breakdown. Phosphates (PO43-) are formed from this element. Phosphate occurs in living and
decaying plants and animals as free ions or weakly chemically bounded in aqueous, to sediments and
soils, or as mineralized compounds in soils, rocks and sediments. The phosphorus is often scarce in
the well-oxygenated waters and low levels of phosphorus results in the limitation of production of
freshwater systems. Phosphates are generally not toxic to humans or animals unless they are present
in high levels of concentration. Phosphorus pollution accelerates a process called eutrophication,
which is essentially the process of a lake’s biological death due to depleted bioavailable oxygen. The
build-up of phosphate in the lake water or any surface water ecosystem leads to overproduction of
lake or water body which results in the imbalance in the nutrient and material cycling process. There
will be massive production of phytoplankton and therefore cause variety of problems ranging from
anoxic waters to toxic algal blooms as well as decrease in diversity, food supply and destroying the
habitats. Excessive growth of algal due to phosphorus pollution increase water treatments costs,
degrades fishing and boating activities as well as impacts tourism and property values.

The maximum contaminant level (MCLs) of iron is 0.3 mg/L. Iron ingestion is not generally unhealthy
and absolutely necessary in small amounts. However, research has found that exposure to high levels
of iron can lead to heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Iron is often included in supplements and
enriched products. It also contains in red meat, therefore easily to be consumed.

In order to identify the concentration or content of the heavy metals in the standard solution and the
water sample. This can be required by the method of absorption spectroscopy. This step is conducted
by using the spectrophotometer. Ppm is parts-per notation and is used to describe dilute solution in
chemistry. One ppm is equivalent to milligram of something per liter of water. The unit conversion is
stated in equation 1.

1 ppm = 1 mg/L

To convert the unit of concentration, mg/L to get the mass, mg. The equation is used.

Concentration of heavy metal,mg/L x volume of solution,L = mass of the heavy metal, mg

Reference

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http://www.scribd.com/39166232
 Lab Manual. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2017, from http://i-learn.uitm.edu.my/
 Morris, S. (2016, October 4). Understanding "free chlorine" versus "total chlorine" in pools.
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http://www.fibretechinc.com/blog/understanding-free-chlorine-versus-total-chlorinein-
pools
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