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EDTA Method Softening Water

EDTA is used in many consumer products to bind with metal ions. It is used in detergents to reduce water hardness by binding calcium and magnesium ions, in some foods as a stabilizer to prevent metal-catalyzed oxidation, and in medical applications to treat lead and mercury poisoning and prevent blood clotting. Water softening methods work by removing calcium and magnesium ions through ion exchange or precipitation, such as using EDTA to bind the ions. Lime softening also removes hardness ions by adding calcium hydroxide to precipitate calcium and magnesium compounds out of solution. Chelators like EDTA and citric acid are also used as water softeners in soaps, laundry detergents, and other commercial products

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520 views

EDTA Method Softening Water

EDTA is used in many consumer products to bind with metal ions. It is used in detergents to reduce water hardness by binding calcium and magnesium ions, in some foods as a stabilizer to prevent metal-catalyzed oxidation, and in medical applications to treat lead and mercury poisoning and prevent blood clotting. Water softening methods work by removing calcium and magnesium ions through ion exchange or precipitation, such as using EDTA to bind the ions. Lime softening also removes hardness ions by adding calcium hydroxide to precipitate calcium and magnesium compounds out of solution. Chelators like EDTA and citric acid are also used as water softeners in soaps, laundry detergents, and other commercial products

Uploaded by

student_4_eva
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The ability of EDTA to bind to metals is exploited in industry, and EDTA is used in many

different consumer products:


in detergents it binds to calcium and magnesium ions to reduce hardness in water
in some foods as a stabiliser to remove metal ions that might catalyse the
oxidation of the product
in medical applications it is added to blood samples to prevent clotting and used to
treat patients suffering from lead and mercury poisoning.
Water soItening methods mainly remove Ca
2
and Mg
2
ions Irom a solution or the binding
oI these ions, i.e. binding them to a molecule that removes their ability to Iorm scale or
interIere with detergents. This Removal is achieved by ion exchange and by precipitation
methods (such as with EDTA).
Since Ca
2
and Mg
2
exist as nonvolatile salts, they can be removed by distilling the water,
although this is too expensive.
Ion-exchange materials contain sodium ions (Na

) that are electrostatically bound and


replaced by hardness ions such as Ca
2
and Mg
2
.
L|me soften|ng also known as Clarks process
1
ls a Lype of waLer LreaLmenL used for waLer
sofLenlng lL uLlllzes Lhe addlLlon of llme (calclum hydroxlde) Lo remove hardness (calclum and
magneslum) lons by preclplLaLlon 1he process ls also effecLlve aL removlng a varleLy of
mlcroorganlsms and dlssolved organlc maLLer
2

ChelaLors are used ln chemlcal analysls as waLer sofLeners and are lngredlenLs ln many commerclal
producLs such as shampoos and food preservaLlves ClLrlc acld ls used Lo sofLen waLer ln soaps and
laundry deLergenLs 1he chelaLor malnly used ls Lu1A
,gnetic w,ter tre,tment Also known as Anti-scale Magnetic Treatment or AMT is a
method oI reducing the eIIects oI hard water, as an alternative to water soItening.
,fgnet|c Wfter treftment
1
usually by Lhe appllcaLlon of a changlng MagneLlc flux as a meLhod of
waLer sofLenlng
2
1he flux change may be dellberaLely caused by an elecLromagneL or Lhe resulL of
waLer flowlng near a permanenL magneL usually ln a plpe surrounded by Lhe magneLlc waLer
LreaLmenL Lransducer devlce

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