Hard water

Hard water contains calcium and/or magnesium ions. Soft water does not. In particular, the calcium ions get into the water supply by the dissolution of calcium carbonate in the presence of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is present in topsoil due to bacteriological activity. As rainwater percolates through the topsoil, it dissolves and carries the CO2 along with it, until it encounters a deposit of CaC03. CaC03 is dissolved in such an environment principally by the formation of bicarbonate, as shown in Equation (13.17)  

When a patient drinks a barium meal, an aqueous suspension of BaS04, his or her digestive tract becomes opaque to X rays and affords an excellent diagnostic tool. 

If there is a concentrated deposit of the carbonate, it will dissolve away to form a limestone cave or, if that collapses, a sinkhole such as those that have for years created so much trouble in Florida. 

Hard water causes major difficulties in our society for two reasons. The first is that when it is heated, calcium carbonate can be reprecipitated in the teakettle, water heater, hot-water pipe, or boiler. The reaction is represented in Equation (13.18)  

A hot-water pipe severely narrowed by a predominantly CaC03 deposit. (From Moore, Stanitski, and Jurs, Chemistry The Molecular Science, 3rd Ed., p. 170. Copyright 2008 Brooks/CoLe, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc. Reproduced by permission) 

The contents of tap water vary among communities. In some areas the water is hard. Hard water is water that contains large amounts of calcium or magnesium ions. Hardness can be measured in milligrams per liter (mg/L) of calcium or magnesium ions. Hard water makes it difficult to get hair, clothes, and dishes clean. In this lab, you will learn how hard water is softened and how softening water affects its ability to clean. You will also collect, test, and classify local sources of water. 

How can hard water be softened How do hard and soft water differ in their ability to clean  

3 large test tubes with stoppers test tube rack grease pencil 25-mL graduated cylinder distilled water dropper 

Always wear safety goggles and a lab apron. Washing soda is a skin and eye irritant. 

Hypothesize about the effect hard and soft water will have on the ability of a detergent to produce suds. Then, predict the relative sudsiness of the three soap solutions. 

SOURCE FMC Corp. Detergent Applications Bulletin No. 4 Suggested Formulations 

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However, the deposition of salts from temporarily hard water in boilers, and so on (for example the fur found in kettles) makes it desirable to soften such water for domestic and industrial use. Very... 

Detergents are designed to be effective in hard water meaning water containing calcium salts that form insoluble calcium carboxylates with soaps These precipitates rob the soap of Its cleansing power and form an unpleasant scum The calcium salts of synthetic deter gents such as sodium lauryl sulfate however are soluble and retain their micelle forming ability even m hard water... 

A.gllsethionates. These are among the oldest of the synthetic detergents and were developed ia Germany to overcome problems of hard water. They are prepared by reaction of fatty acid chlorides with a salt of isethionic acid, ie, 2-hydroxyethanesulfonic acid [107-36-8]. These detergents have moderate foaming properties and have seen only limited use ia shampoos. 

A.lpha-Olefm Sulfonates. Sulfonation of alpha-olefins yields a mixture of alkene sulfonates, hydroxyalkane sulfonates, and some amount of various disulfonates. These detergents are excellent foamers with good detergency properties. They are unaffected ia hard water and thek effects are considered superior to the alkyl ether sulfates (9). 

Neutralizing Lotion. The principal active ingredient of cold wave neutralizers is usually an oxidizing agent. The most popular is hydrogen peroxide [7722-84-1J, employed at a concentration of 1—2% it continues to find widespread use. Aqueous solutions of sodium bromate [7789-38-0] at a concentration of 10—20% occasionally are used and are technically preferred over the peroxide formulations because of excellent stabiUty and absence of hair bleaching. Neutralizing powders appear to be on the decline but formulations stiU in use consist of sodium perborate [7632-04-4] combined with hexametaphosphates to improve solubiUty in hard water. 

Many stabilizer systems have been tailored to a particular industry need or for particular areas where dilution water quaUty is poor. These grades are heavily stabilized and may contain organic sequestering agents, ie, staimate, phosphates, and nitrate ions, so that the weak solutions produced by dilution from hard water retain acceptable stabihty. The nitrate is not a stabilizer, but it inhibits corrosion of aluminum storage tanks by chloride ion. 

Ca.ndy. Its low melting point and sugar inversion properties make malic acid a desirable acidulant, especially in hard candy products (44,45). Due to their insolubiUty, hard water salts can cause clouding of the finished product. However, because of the higher solubiUty of calcium malate [17482-42-7] relative to alternative acidulants, clarity of the finished product is enhanced. Additionally, in sugar confectionery products where acidulation may exceed 2.0%, malic acid can provide economic benefits. 

Quats are usually moderately soluble ia water, but this varies widely owiag to the range of groups bonded to the nitrogen. They are fundamentally nonreactive but act as surface—active cations. Compatibility with anionic detergents and activity ia the presence of hard water have been claimed for some quats (19). 

Water Treatment Industrial CleaningPipplications. Boiler and cooling tower waters are treated with lignosulfonates to prevent scale deposition (78). In such systems, lignosulfonates sequester hard water salts and thus prevent their deposition on metal surfaces. They can also prevent the precipitation of certain iasoluble heat-coagulable particles (79). Typical use levels for such appHcatioas range from 1—1000 ppm. 

The polymers exist in saline solution as tightly coiled chains and are readily adsorbed owing to relatively low solubiUty in hard water. Subsequent injection of soft, low salinity water uncoils the adsorbed polymer chains increasing water viscosity and reducing rock permeabiUty. This technology could also be used to reduce the permeabiUty of thief 2ones adjacent to injection wells. However, mechanical isolation of these 2ones may be necessary for cost-effective treatments. 

Calcium carbonate (calcite) scale formation in hard water can be prevented by the addition of a small amount of soluble polyphosphate in a process known as threshold treatment. The polyphosphate sorbs to the face of the calcite nuclei and further growth is blocked. Polyphosphates can also inhibit the corrosion of metals by the sorption of the phosphate onto a thin calcite film that deposits onto the metal surface. When the polyphosphate is present, a protective anodic polarization results. 

Anionic surfactants are the most commonly used class of surfactant. Anionic surfactants include sulfates such as sodium alkylsulfate and the homologous ethoxylated versions and sulfonates, eg, sodium alkylglycerol ether sulfonate and sodium cocoyl isethionate. Nonionic surfactants are commonly used at low levels ( 1 2%) to reduce soap scum formation of the product, especially in hard water. These nonionic surfactants are usually ethoxylated fatty materials, such as H0CH2CH20(CH2CH20) R. These are commonly based on triglycerides or fatty alcohols. Amphoteric surfactants, such as cocamidopropyl betaine and cocoamphoacetate, are more recent surfactants in the bar soap area and are typically used at low levels (<2%) as secondary surfactants. These materials can have a dramatic impact on both the lathering and mildness of products (26). 

These surfactants, in conjunction with soap, produce bars that may possess superior lathering and rinsing in hard water, greater lather stabiUty, and improved skin effects. Beauty and skin care bars are becoming very complex formulations. A review of the Hterature clearly demonstrates the complexity of these very mild formulations, where it is not uncommon to find a mixture of synthetic surfactants, each of which is specifically added to modify various properties of the product. Eor example, one approach commonly reported is to blend a low level of soap (for product firmness), a mild primary surfactant (such as sodium cocoyl isethionate), a high lathering or lather-boosting cosurfactant, eg, cocamidopropyl betaine or AGS, and potentially an emollient like stearic acid (27). Such benefits come at a cost to the consumer because these materials are considerably more expensive than simple soaps. 

Water is softened by removing calcium and magnesium ions from hard water in exchange for sodium ions at sites on cation-exchange resin. Water softeners typically use a gel polystyrene sulfonate cation-exchange resin regenerated with a 10% salt brine solution (25). 

Makeup. Makeup treatment depends extensively on the source water. Some steam systems use municipal water as a source. These systems may require dechlorination followed by reverse osmosis (qv) and ion exchange. Other systems use weUwater. In hard water areas, these systems include softening before further purification. Surface waters may require removal of suspended soHds by sedimentation (qv), coagulation, flocculation, and filtration. Calcium may be reduced by precipitation softening or lime softening. Organic contaminants can be removed by absorption on activated carbon. Details of makeup water treatment may be found in many handbooks (22—24) as well as in technical Hterature from water treatment chemical suppHers. 

Amidosulfonates. Amidosulfonates or A/-acyl-A/-alkyltaurates, are derived from taurine, H2NCH2CH2S02Na, and are effective surfactants and lime soap dispersants (Table 9). Because of high raw material cost, usage is relatively small. Technically, amidosulfonates are of interest because they are stable to hydrolysis, unaffected by hard water, and compatible with soap. They have been used in soap—surfactant toilet-bar formulations. With shorter, acyl groups, they make excellent wetting agents. 

This resin, usually a viscous Hquid, is mixed with fillers, pigments, and a curing agent. The mix is then appHed to the substrate, and cure is obtained in a few hours. The product is strong, tough, and resistant to chemicals and abrasion. It is used for industrial and other doors subject to hard water. The use of epoxy resins for this purpose is only a small fraction of its total use. 

Carbon dioxide is sometimes added to irrigation water, in the same manner as fertilizer ammonia, in hard water regions. Carbon dioxide is also used with other gases in treating respiratory problems and in anesthesia. 

The presence of a sufficientiy strong chelating agent, ie, one where K in equation 26 is large, keeps the concentration of free metal ion suppressed so that pM is larger than the saturation pM given by the solubiUty product relation (eq. 29) and no soHd phase of MX can form even in the presence of relatively high anion concentrations. The metal is thus sequestered with respect to precipitation by the anion, such as in the prevention of the formation of insoluble soaps in hard water. 

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