Hard and Soft Water

L.O: To understand what water hardness

is, some types of water hardness, and
some methods to soften hard water.

Wednesday, 10 October 2018

Starter

Look at the map showing

water hardness in the UK and
answer the questions:
1. Where is water hardest?
2. Where is water softest?
3. Describe the hardness of
water in Leeds,
Newcastle, Lincoln, and
Birmingham.
4. Describe the hardness of
water where you live.
 Take notes!
As we go through the lesson, make sure to note down
information – definitions of keywords, benefits and
disadvantages of hard water, important facts…
 Water Hardness

 Water can be hard or soft

depending on the minerals that it contains.
 Hard water usually contains lots of calcium ions (Ca2+) and
magnesium ions (Mg2+), while soft water contains much lower
concentrations of these ions.
 The ions get into water when:
 it comes into contact with particular types of rocks (such as
limestone, chalk and gypsum) and compounds like
magnesium sulfate and calcium sulfate dissolve into the
water.
A disadvantage of hard
water is that more soap is
Water Hardness and Soap
used and so money is
wasted…

 With soft water, you get a

nice lather with soap.
 But with hard water you get a scum instead
— unless you’re using a soapless detergent.
 This happens because the dissolved calcium
ions and magnesium ions in the water react
with the soap to make scum, which is
insoluble.
 So to get a decent lather with hard water you
need to use more soap — and because soap
isn’t free, that means more money going
down the drain…
 Benefits of Hard Water
It’s not all bad – there are
some advantages to having hard
water:
 The calcium ions (Ca2+) in hard water
are good for the development and
maintenance of healthy teeth and
bones.
 Studies have found that people who
live in hard water areas are at less
risk of developing heart disease than
people who live in soft water areas.
This could be to do with the
minerals in hard water.
 Types of Water Hardness
 There are two types of water
hardness — temporary and permanent.
 Temporary hard water can be softened by boiling, whereas
permanent hard water remains hard after boiling.
 Scale

 When heated, temporary

hard water forms furring or scale Scale on the heating element of a
washing machine.
(mostly calcium carbonate) on the
insides of pipes, boilers, washing
machines and kettles.
 Badly scaled-up pipes and boilers
reduce the efficiency of heating
systems, and may need to be
replaced — all of which costs money.
 Scale

 Scale can even eventually

block pipes.
 Scale is also a bit of a thermal
insulator.
 This means that a kettle with
scale on the heating element
takes longer to boil than a clean
non-scaled-up kettle — so it
becomes less efficient.

Scale (also known as limescale)

blocking a water pipe.
 Softening Temporary Hard Water
 Temporary hard water
contains hydrogencarbonate ions (HCO3–).
 These ions are from dissolved calcium hydrogencarbonate
(Ca(HCO3)2) and magnesium hydrogencarbonate (Mg(HCO3)2).
 When temporary hard water is heated the hydrogencarbonate
ions decompose to produce carbonate ions (CO32–).
Permanent hard water contains other
salts which don’t decompose and
Softening Temporary Hard Water
form insoluble compounds when
heated. This means the hardness isn’t
removed by heating — it is
 The carbonate ions then
permanent.
combine with calcium and magnesium
Theseions to form
boiling tubesinsoluble
containprecipitates
water of calcium carbonate and
whichmagnesium carbonate. These precipitates are the scale that can
has been boiled.
• Thedevelop inside
left tube pipespermanent
contains and appliances.
hard
As the calcium
water whichand magnesium
does not changeions precipitate out to form
scale,boiled.
when there are fewer calcium and magnesium ions dissolved in
• Thetheright
water,
tubesocontained
the water is softened.
temporary hard water — the
cloudiness is caused by calcium
and magnesium ions that have
precipitated out, so it is no longer
hard.
 Softening Temporary & Permanent
Hard Water
 To convert permanent hard
water into soft water you need to completely
remove the dissolved calcium and magnesium ions which make
it hard.
 There are two methods you can use to do this:
 adding sodium carbonate
 using an ion exchange column
 Method 1: Adding sodium carbonate

 Both types of hardness can

be softened by adding sodium carbonate
(Na2CO3) to the water.
 The added carbonate ions react with the Ca2+ or Mg2+ ions to make
an insoluble precipitate of calcium carbonate or magnesium
carbonate. The Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions are no longer dissolved in the
water so they can’t make it hard.

QUESTION: If this is the equation for carbonate ions reacting with Ca2+
ions: [CO32-(aq) + Ca2+(aq)  CaCO3(s) ] then what would the equation for
the Mg2+ ions be?

ANSWER: CO32-(aq) + Mg2+(aq)  MgCO3(s)

Method 2: Using Ion exchange columns

 Both types of hardness can

also be removed by running the water
through ion exchange columns, which are sold in shops.
 The columns have lots of sodium or hydrogen ions inside them
which are trapped on insoluble resins.
 The sodium or hydrogen ions are ‘exchanged’ with calcium or
magnesium ions in the water that runs through the column.
 For example, in the following equation a calcium ion becomes
trapped on the resin and the sodium ion is released into the
water.
Na2Resin(s) + Ca2+(aq)  CaResin(s) + 2Na+(aq)
 Quick Quiz!
Answer the questions with
your partner and without showing anyone
else… The person with the most correct answers wins!
1. Name the two main ions that cause water hardness.
2. Why does scum form when you mix hard water with soap?
3. How can you overcome scum formation to form a lather with
soap and hard water?
4. State one health benefit of drinking hard water.
5. Name the two types of hard water.
6. Which type of hard water can be softened by boiling?
 Quick Quiz (continued)
7. Which type of hard water
forms scale when heated?
8. What impact does scale formation have on heating systems?
9. Temporary hard water can be caused by the
hydrogencarbonate ion.
10. Give the chemical symbol of the hydrogencarbonate ion.
11. What happens when these hydrogencarbonate ions are
heated?
12. Describe a way to soften permanent hard water.
Swap your answers with another team and mark each
other’s answers…

Swap Sheets!
 Answers

1. Calcium ions and magnesium ions.

2. The dissolved calcium ions and magnesium ions in the water
react with the soap to make insoluble scum.
3. Use more soap (than you’d need to use with soft water to
form a lather).
4. E.g. the calcium ions (Ca2+) in hard water are good for the
development and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones. /
Hard water reduces the risk of developing heart disease.
5. Temporary and permanent.
6. Temporary hard water.
 Answers (continued)
7. Temporary hard water.
8. E.g. scale reduces the efficiency of heating systems.
9. Temporary hard water can be caused by the hydrogencarbonate ion.
–
10. HCO3
11. The hydrogencarbonate ions decompose to produce carbonate ions
2–
(CO ). These ions can then combine with calcium and magnesium
3
ions to form precipitates.
12. E.g. adding sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). The added carbonate ions
react with Ca2+ or Mg2+ ions to make an insoluble precipitate of calcium
carbonate or magnesium carbonate. / Running water through ion
exchange columns. The columns have lots of sodium ions (or hydrogen
ions) and ‘exchange’ them for calcium or magnesium ions in the water
that runs through them.
 Questions
Answer the following questions
individually…
1. Sharon lives in a hard water area. She is thinking of getting a
water softener to convert the hard water into soft water.
a) Sharon has been told that having the water softener
installed will save her money in the long run. Suggest why
this is true.
b) Give one disadvantage to Sharon of installing a water
softener.
2. Mike has several samples of hard water and wants to work
out what type of hardness each one has. Describe a test Mike
could use to identify the type of hardness of each sample.
 Answers

1. a) E.g. soap will lather more easily in soft water than hard
water, so she will need to use less of it for cleaning. This will
save money on soap costs. / With soft water she won’t get
scale formation in pipes and appliances. This means they will
run efficiently and cost less money than if they were scaled
up.
2. b) E.g. Sharon will no longer gain 2+the health benefits
associated with hard water — Ca ions help keep bones and
teeth healthy and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
2. E.g. Mike could boil the water samples. Samples of permanent
hard water will remain clear. Samples of temporary hard
water will become cloudy as magnesium and calcium
precipitates form.
Homework

 Answer the exam style

questions as fully as possible.

Due in: next lesson