Table of Contents

Abstract...........................................................................2
Objective..........................................................................2
Introduction...................................................................... 2
Theory.............................................................................. 3
Procedure......................................................................... 4
Observation and Results....................................................5
Discussion........................................................................7
Conclusion........................................................................9
Questions.......................................................................10
References......................................................................13

Abstract
This report is gives an idea of the importance of the chemical and
physical analyses associated with the assessment of portable water
quality in accordance with the water quality standards.

Objective
The Objectives for the lab are: -

introduce students to the common parameters and tests used to

classify water.
Provide students with experience in analyzing results obtained from
laboratory tests.
Illustrate the shortcoming of these tests

Introduction
Two thirds of the earth's surface covered by water and the human
body consisting of 75 percent of it, it is evidently clear that water is
one of the prime elements responsible for life on earth [citied from
http://www.laleva.cc/environment/water.html ]. However this
abundance is not acceptable for regular domestic or drinking
consumption as there are minerals and solids in the water that can
affect our health. The three (3) main sources of water are the ocean,
groundwater and surface water. All contain some measure of
impurities that are not healthy to ingest or use in households
therefore it is necessary to treat the water in order to reduce or
eliminate any possible transmission of waterborne diseases by
pathogens (An agent that causes disease, especially a living
microorganism such as a bacterium or fungus) prior to distribution.
As it pertains to the water sources, ocean water has the
highest supply. However, the ocean has a high concentration of salts
and minerals and would have to go through desalination. Surface
water, the most commonly used source in Trinidad, refers to rivers,
reservoirs and dams and goes through a typical treatment process.
Groundwater is the cleanest source, however, it is usually high in
mineral content found in the ground and will have to be treated for

that. It is not used as extensively as surface water however due to

its relatively low yield. Treatment of water is important as it
primarily serves the purpose of avoiding many waterborne diseases
such as cholera and typhoid. Whenever there is contamination of
drinking water sources and water logging after rain there is an
outbreak of infection (cited from
http://ratnaveera.hubpages.com/hub/Importance-of-WaterTreatment).

Theory
The tests that are carried out in this lab to check the water quality
are the bacteriological analysis, the jar test, and source
determination.
Bacteriological analysis examines the amount of bacteria
present in the water. Water quality is affected by the concentration
of pathogens it contains as these are disease causing organisms.
Most diseases are caused in particular from faecal contamination;
bacteria originating in the guts of humans and animals. Due to the
concentrations of faecal contamination being frequently small and
the variety of pathogens being large, it is not practical to test for the
actual pathogens in the water. This is why coliforms are used for
analysis. As coliforms come from the same sources as pathogenic
organisms and are relatively easy to identify, the testing for coliform
bacteria can be a reasonable indication of whether other pathogenic
bacteria are present. An indicator is always present when the
bacteria is present hence giving an idea of how polluted/unhealthy
the raw water source is (cited from
http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/coliform_bac
teria.htm).
The Jar test is intended to simulate the
coagulation/flocculation process in a water treatment plant. The
results that it produces are used to help optimize the performance

of the plant (cited from http://www.rpi.edu/dept/chem-eng/BiotechEnviron/Environmental/WATER/jar.html). Coagulation alters the

charges on suspended solids such that they will attract, clump
together and form floc (amassed solid particles). As the water is
slowly mixed, this floc grows in size until it can settle under
gravitational forces (sedimentation). Alum is the chemical that is
most popularly used in Trinidad for coagulation due to its economic
efficiency when being compared to the more effective polymer. This
test serves the purpose of determining the optimum alum dose to
apply to the raw water. The more alum you add, the more floc you
will gain. However, the disadvantage to adding more alum is the
fact that it is acidic and will corrode the insides of distribution pipes
that feed the homes being served. It also causes for increased costs
due to the procuring of lime in order to adjust the pH. Therefore a
delicate balance has to be struck.
Source determination consists of different titrations that are
used to determine the source of the water. The determination tests
that are carried out in this lab are for residual chlorine, hardness,
chlorides and alkalinity in the samples.
Residual chlorine is a trait commonly found in treated water.
When disinfecting the water, extra chlorine is added. This is done so
as to provide further treatment during the distribution of the water
should it become necessary.
Hardness of the water refers to its mineral content. These
minerals can cause for undesirable reaction products in industry
water usage. The presence of minerals in the water is usually
characteristic of a groundwater source. Minerals tend to be present
in this particular water source as the water accumulates minerals
found in the soil.
Chloride pertains to the presence of CL- ions present in the
water which would come from the. As aforementioned, there are
different sources of raw water. A titration can be used to determine

which source the raw water originated from or if water has already
undergone treatment.

Procedure
Jar Test-

1. Put 1000mL of river water sample provided, in each of six (6) 1L

beakers.
2. Calculate the appropriate volumes of stock (5000 mg/L) solution
required to
give dosage of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 mg/L.
5. Reduce speed (without stoping the process) to 20 rpm and
continue mixing for 7mins.
7. Stop mixing and allow the contents of the beakers to settle for 7
mins.

Source DeterminationHardness-Add 1mL buffer solution, 4drops of the indicator and swirl
flask.

Observation and Results

Bacteriological Analysis
Source
A
B
B
C(bottle3)
C(bottle2)
C(bottle2)
C(bottle1)
C(bottle1)
Coliform Colonies
Dosage (mg/L)
10
20
40
60
80
100
Source

FC

TC
0
0
0

TNTC

0
0
0
TNTC

mL of
sample
100
25
50
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.0001
0.00001

95
17
10
2
0
0
0
0
1.00E+09 1.70E+08
Jar Test
Vol. of stock
Turbidity
alum (mg)
(NTU)
pH
2
6
7.5
4
7
7.29
8
7
7.04
12
4
6.86
16
2
6.66
20
1
6.46
X
Y
Z

Hardness as mg
CaCO3/L
Alkalinity(mg
CaCo3/L)
Cloride (mg/L)
Free
Total

120

40

260

47
28

14
54

152
74

Chlorine
0.61
0.74

0.37
0.42

1.47
0.61

Table1: Water Analysis results

River Water
8

Residual Turbidity (NTU)

Coagulation Dosage (mg/L)

Graph 2: Residual turbidity
readings and corresponding alum dosage

Determining Coliform Colonies for 100mL of sample:

of colonies counted
100
( ( vol filteredsample
dilution ) )

CFU =

Sample C, Bottle 2 (0.01/100 dilution):

17
( 0.01
)100=1.7 x 10 per 100 mL of sample
10
=(
100=1 x 10 per 100 mL of sample
0.001 )
8

CFU TC =
CFU FC

* There was an air bubble in sample in bottle 2 of 0.01 mL which

cause the # of coliforms to be affected and the other samples were
too dilute to count therefore not included in calculation
*There were no colour changes to pink hence all titrations were
purely total alkalinity (no phenolphthalein alkalinity).
Doing sample calculations for sample X:
Hardness
Hardness=

Titre value1,000
31,000
=
=120 mgCa CO3 / L
vol . of sample tested
25

Chloride
/L
Titre value500
1.4500
Chloride=
=
=28 mg CL
vol . of sample tested
25
Alkalinity
As mentioned, P-alkalinity was zero, therefore, the only type of
alkalinity present in the water samples would be bicarbonate (HCO3-)
which is equal to the total alkalinity.
T alkalinity =

titre value1,000
4.71,000
=
=47 mgCaCO 3 / L
vol. of sample tested
100 mL

Discussion
After undergoing bacteriological analysis, it has been determined
that the untreated river water is the only one unsafe for drinking.
The tap water is the safest due to the fact that it has been through
the whole water treatment process and the residual chlorine taking

care of any bacteria that may have attempted growth along the
distribution mains of the network.
As it pertains to the river water samples, the addition of
chlorine via household bleach to one sample made it relatively safe
to drink as it eliminated a satisfactory amount of coliforms (and by
extension pathogens). This result therefore validates the advice
given to the public to apply bleach to untreated water so as to make
it potable. The untreated river water is by far the most polluted of
the 3 samples, with a maximum total coliform count of 1.7 x 105
CFU per 100mL of sample. The vital coliform group that determines
the potency of the water to cause diseases, the faecal coliforms,
had a maximum value of 1 x 106 CFU per 100mL. This value would
classify the river as being effluent ( 105 .
As said in the Introduction, the jar test serves the purpose of
simulating the operations that occur in a water treatment plant. The
coagulant (alum) alters the charge of the suspended particles so as
to induce inter-particle attractions. As alum is acidic, its addition will
in turn make the solution acidic (a pH of greater than 7). This is of
concern as an acidic solution will corrode the insides of the pipes
which would contaminate the portable water. After the coagulation
process, flocculation takes place to form larger particles and then
settle (sedimentation).
In this experiment it was observed that doing coagulation the
sample with the least alum had the most particles settled out of
suspension but when the flocculation began the sample with the
most alum had the biggest floc sizes and therefore a greater settling
From the graph 1 it can be seen that the sample with 100 mg/L alum
is the optimum alum dosage for this treatment operation although it
has the most acidity but the lowest turbidity.
The 3 water sources tested for Source Determination were
surface, ground, and sea water. Each require different water
treatment processes so as to make them potable.

Surface water is the most commonly used source and

undergoes (in chronological order) screening, primary
sedimentation, coagulation and flocculation, secondary
sedimentation, filtration and disinfection before distribution. These
processes are done to remove the bacteria and volume of solids that
are the predominant pollutants in surface water.
Groundwater has to be treated for the dissolved minerals that
it contains rather than the amount of particles present in it. The
minerals will undergo precipitation and flocculation after the
addition of select chemicals. The water would then be carried
through sedimentation, filtration and disinfection before distribution.
Seawater is known for containing a multitude of salts and
other minerals. It therefore has to undergo desalination which is
most commonly done through reverse osmosis whereby water is
moved across a semi permeable membrane against the
concentration gradient.
All these treatment processes are case specific and are
effective for their respective water sources. However, desalination
uses large amounts of energy and is hence more expensive than the
other two treatment processes. Desalination may be the main
source of treatment in countries that receive little to no rainfall to
replenish their surface and ground water sources. Surface water is
what is most commonly used due the increased yield it has when
compared to ground water. Due to the vital necessity of potable
water for the public, this greater yield is more convenient for the
industry. Hence, surface water is the predominantly used source for
water treatment in countries where this resource is available.
The samples where identified by their Hardness, Alkalinity and
Chloride properties.
Based on the hardness test, sample z had a relatively high
concentration of calcium carbonates. As previously said, ground
water is known to contain dissolved minerals picked up from the soil
so sample is suspected to have been derived from the groundwater

source. The hardness and alkalinity levels from a desalination plant

are relatively low hence this insinuates that sample Y originates
from seawater (with hardness and alkalinity values of 40 and
14mgCaCO3/L respectively).
As it pertains to the residual chlorine, the surface and
groundwater would be expected to have higher values as both
treatments involve disinfection. The therefore renders samples Z
and X was the ground and surface water sources (irrespective) with
free residual chlorine values of 1.47 and 0.61 respectively. Sample
Ys low residual chlorine value of 0.37 once again insinuates that
sample has been through the desalination process hence Y
originates from seawater.

Conclusion
A good grasp and appreciation has been taken of the processes
carried out in the treatment of water. From the tests performed, the
following have been concluded:
1) Bacteriological Analysis: The treated tap water and domestically
treated water are relatively safe for drinking. However, the
untreated river water is highly contaminated hence making it
unhealthy for consumption.
2) Jar Test: The optimum alum dosage determined to obtain a
balance between less corrosion of pipes and suitable turbidity
removal was 100 mg/L.
3) Source Determination: From the tests performed the following
samples and water sources were correlated:
Sample X Surface water
Sample Y Sea water
Sample Z Ground water

10

Questions
1).Using Table 2 from the lab manual (Types of Alkalinity), the only
type of alkalinity that was present in the water samples was
bicarbonate due to there being no P-alkalinity (for P=0, HCO3- = Talkalinity with OH-=CO32=0).
3). Water Quality Index (WQI) is a 100 point scale that summarizes
results from a total of nine measurements (Temp, pH, Dissolve
Oxygen, Turbidity, Nitrates, Phosphates, Total Suspended Solids,
Biochemical oxygen, Fecal coliform).The Q value for this experiment
is
4). High turbidity in surface waters will prevent sunlight from
reaching the aquatic organisms that would need this resource for
photosynthesis and the production of dissolved oxygen. Also, the
suspended particles can clog the breathing passages of aquatic
animals such as fish. Lastly, due to the suspended solids absorbing
heat, the water will drop in temperature hence reducing the amount
of dissolved oxygen the water can hold. The process of removing
turbidity from river water is by the use of a conventional water
treatment plant as shown below (diagram from CVNG3007 notes):

11

5). The graph from the lab corralates with the alum plot with sample
(water B) with the optimum being the maximam dosage in the test.
From test the optimum dosage is 100 mg/L

River Water

Residual Turbidity (NTU)

J ar Test Plots

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Coagulation Dosage (mg/L)

A.

B.

12

B.

30

13

References
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/p/pathogen.htm
http://swrp.esr.pdx.edu/publications/manual/alkalinity_introduction.p
df
http://www.sasta.asn.au/v2/adc/datalogging/DataSinglePagePDFs/AD
CBookDatalog13-23.pdf
Information Cited from

http://www.laleva.cc/environment/water.html
http://ratnaveera.hubpages.com/hub/Importance-of-Water-Treatment
http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/coliform_bac
teria.htm
http://www.rpi.edu/dept/chemeng/BiotechEnviron/Environmental/WATER/jar.html

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