WATER SOFTENING

 removal of hardness
 Hardness is?...
primarily Ca, Mg, plus Fe, Mn, St, Al

 How is Softening done?...

Precipitation of Ca and Mg, or
Ion exchange of Ca / Mg with ion such as Na
Demineralisation process

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 Classifying Water Hardness
Description of water Hardness expressed as mg/L of CaCO3

Soft less than 50

Moderately soft 50–75

Slightly hard 75–150

Hard 150–300

Very hard greater than 300

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 Why bother?

 Hardness in 300-500 mg/l as CaCO3

range considered excessive
high soap consumption
scaling in heating vessels and pipes
 Even > 150 mg/l may result in
consumer objection
 60-120 mg/l as CaCO3 is considered a
moderate amount

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 Formation of Hardness

Precipitation

Topsoil

Subsoil
CO2 + H2O  H2CO3

Limestone CaCO3(s) + H2CO3  Ca(HCO3)2

MgCO3(s) + H2CO3  Mg(HCO3)2

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 Hardness
 Non-Carbonate Hardness
» Called permanent hardness because it is not
removed when the water is heated. It is much
more expensive to remove non-carbonate
hardness than carbonate hardness.
» Ca2+, Mg2+ associated with other ions, Cl-,
NO3-, SO42-
» NCH = TH - CH

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 Hardness Units
 milligrams per liter (mg/L) as calcium
carbonate (most common)
 parts per million (ppm) as calcium carbonate

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 What is “lime”?
• Limestone, mainly
calcium carbonate,
CaCO3
• Quicklime, calcium
oxide, CaO
• Slaked lime,
calcium hydroxide,
Ca(OH)2

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 Lime Conversions
• Limestone can be converted to quick lime:
CaCO3  CaO + CO2 (1800F)
• Quick lime is slaked with water:
CaO + H2O  Ca(OH)2
• Slaked lime slowly reacts with CO2 in air:
…Ca(OH)2 + CO2  CaCO3 + H2O
• Dissolved lime (hardness) can precipitate:
Ca(HCO3)2  CaCO3 + H2O + CO2

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 LIME - SODA ASH SOFTENING

 Addition of lime, Ca(OH)2, & soda ash,

Na2CO3 causes precipitation of Ca, Mg
 Lime often added as CaO, quick lime
» CaO + H20 --> Ca(OH)2
 Three basic processes
» Excess lime treatment
» Selective calcium removal
» Split treatment

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 Stoichiometry
CO2 + Ca(OH)2 --> CaCO3 + H2O

Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 --> 2 CaCO3 + 2 H20

Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 --> CaCO3 + MgCO3 + 2H20
Mg(CO3) + Ca(OH)2 --> Mg(OH)2 + CaCO3
MgS04 + Ca(OH)2 --> Mg(OH)2 + CaS04

MgCl2 + Ca(OH)2 --> Mg(OH)2 + CaCl2

CaS04 + Na2CO3 --> CaC03 + Na2SO4
CaCl2 + Na2CO3 --> CaC03 + 2NaCl

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Typical lime softening process…
Ca(OH)2
Lime





Lime sludge

…presented as a complete
drinking water treatment process
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Precipitation occurs in a settling tank

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 Solubilities

 Ca(OH)2 is very soluble, Mg(OH)2 is not

 MgCO3 is very soluble, CaCO3 is not
» CaCO3 and Mg(OH)2 are relatively insoluble

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 Removal by precipitation
 Is complete removal possible?...
No, lime-soda ash softening
cannot remove all hardness

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 Effectiveness

 80-100 mg/l as CaCO3 is usually

considered acceptable result of lime-
soda ash softening,

» as long as Mg is < 40 mg/l as CaCO3

any more causes scaling in heating vessels

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BASE EXCHANGE PROCESS

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 BASE EXCAHNGE/ZEOLITE
ROCESS

 Depends on the ability of certain insoluble

substances to echange cation with other substances
dissolved in water.
 Hard water passed through zeolite bed.
 Ca and Mg ions get replaced by sodium from
exchanger and water becomes soft.
 Sodium from resin get exhausted after some time.

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Applications of ion exchange in water & wastewater

• Ca, Mg (hardness removal) exchange with Na or

H.
• Fe, Mn removal from groundwater.
• Recovery of valuable waste products Ag, Au, U
• Demineralization (exchange all cations for H all
anions for OH)
• Removal of NO3, NH4, PO4 (nutrient removal).

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• Natural: Proteins, Soils, Lignin, Coal,
Metal oxides, Aluminosilicates
(zeolites) (NaOAl2O3.4SiO2).

• Synthetic zeolite gels and most

common -polymeric resins
(macroreticular, large pores).
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 These resins are generally
manufactured by polymerizing neutral
organic molecules such as sytrene (to
form polystrene) and then cross-linked
with divinyl benzene (DVB).
 Functional groups are then added
according to the intended use.

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 :
FOLLOWING ARE OTHER WAYS OF REMOVING ODORS IN WATER TREATMENTPLANTS
Oxidation
Oxidation is the best method for controlling taste and odor problems.

Aeration
Aeration is a practical solution for taste and odor control when the problem is caused by
volatile compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide. It is generally not the best method for
controlling taste and odors that are caused by algae.

Adsorption
Adding powdered activated carbon to water or using /granular activated carbon (GAC)
in the water filter can remove taste and odor. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) is the
preferred method when the taste and odor is moderate and infrequent.

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1. Water Treatments Aeration
Aeration is the process of bringing water in intimate contact with
air.
During the process, water absorbs oxygen from the air. Aeration
removes iron, manganese, CO,. H2S and oxidize certain organic
impurities present in the water.

Up to certain extent bacteria's are also killed. However, it can

remove CO2 up to 10% only and residue to the extent of 3-5
mg/liter always remains in water.

Note: Excessive aeration should not be done ; otherwise

excessive absorption of oxygen by water increases its corrosive
characteristics and it may the need ‘DE-aeration’ of water.

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ii) Water Treatments with Activated carbon.
Activated carbon is obtained by charring wood or saw dust at
500°C in a closed vessels, thereby hydrocarbons, which usually
interfere with the absorption of organic matters, are expelled.

It is available in granular or powdered from. As it is highly porous

and possesses free valencies ; both properties provide it the high
adsorption capacity.

Activated carbon is most widely used for the removal of

tastes and odors from the public water supplies, because it has
excellent properties of attracting gases, finely divided solid
particles and phenol type impurities.

The activated carbon, usually in the powdered form, is added to

water either before or after the coagulation with sedimentation.
But it is always added before filtration. Feeding devices are similar
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to those used in feeding the coagulants.
Advantages of activated carbon.

• It increases the coagulation power of the process.

• Its use reduces the chlorine demand.

• The excessive dose of activated carbon is not harmful.

• The water treatment process, is very simple and it

requires nearly no skill.

• The efficiency of removing color, odor and taste is quite

high.

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Water Treatments with Copper Sulphate.

•Copper sulphate (CuSO4.5H20) solution is usually applied

with dose of 0.5 to 0.75 mg/liter to the treated water, just
before it is allowed for distribution in the mains It can also be
added in the lakes or reservoirs.

• Copper sulphate helps in removing odors, tastes and

colors from the water. Its main advantage is that it cheeks the
growth of algae, even before production and also kills some
bacteria's.

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