MODULE - IV

DISINFECTION AND SOFTENING

The process of removal of disease causing bacteria in order to make the water safe for drinking is
called as disinfection. The chemicals used for killing these bacteria’s are known as disinfectants.

The presence of turbidity, colour or minerals etc, may not be dangerous, but the presence of even
a single harmful organisms will cause dangerous effect on the health of the individual. The
disinfection not only removes the existing bacteria from the water at the plant, but also ensures
their immediate killing even afterwards, in the distribution system.

Requirements of Ideal Disinfectant

 The disinfectant used should not only removes the existing bacteria from the water at the
plant, but also ensure their immediate killing even afterwards, in the distribution system.
 The chemical used as a disinfectant must be able to give residual disinfectant effect for a
longer period, thus affording protection against recontamination in the distribution
network.
 Disinfectant should be harmless, unobjectionable to tongue of human beings.
 It must be economical, easily available and should be easily measurable by simple tests.
 They should not require high skill and costly requirement for their application.
 They should not take more time in killing pathogens, but do their task within the required
time at normal temperature.
 They should be of such a nature that their strength or concentration in the treated water
can be quickly determined.

Minor Methods of Disinfection

Following are the minor methods of disinfection

 Boiling of water
 treatment with excess lime
 treatment with iodine and bromine
 treatment with ultraviolet rays
 treatment with potassium permanganate (KMnO4)
  treatment with silver (Elcetro- katadyn process)

1) Boiling of Water

 This method includes the heating of water to raise the temperature thereby killing the
bacteria’s present in water.
 It is one of the effective methods of disinfection.
 This method is practically not possible to treat the huge quantity of public water supplies.
 There is no provision provided to care about the future contamination of treated water in
the distribution pipes.
 This method commonly not used in any conventional water treatment plant.
 However, during the water borne epidemics, public is advised to drink water only after
boiling it in their houses.

2) Treatment with Excess Lime

 When excess lime is added to the water, it raises the pH value and makes the water
extremely alkaline.
 This extreme alkalinity is detrimental to the survival of bacteria, thus killing them
partially or completely.
 At pH 9.5 to 9.99, can completely removes the bacteria’s present in water.
 After the disinfection treated with lime, it needs excess removal of alkalinity from water
before supplied to the public. Re-carboantion can be employed for the removal of excess
lime or alkalinity present resulted water.
 By this method, can’t achieve the protection against the future contamination of water in
a distribution network.
 Because of its higher alkalinity leads in a water when water is treated with lime, hence
this method is not used in these days.

3) Treatment with Ozone (O3)

 Ozone is a faintly blue gas with plungent odour and is an excellent disinfectant.
 It can be produced by passing a high tension electric current through a stream of air in a
closed chamber.

3O2 2O3

(oxygen) (ozone molecule)

 Because of its instability, ozone readily breakdown into molecular oxygen and releases
nascent oxygen.
O3 O2 + O
(oxidizing agent)
  The nascent oxygen so produced is a powerful oxidizing agent and removes the organic
matter as well as bacteria from the water.
 Ozone and chlorine are competitive disinfectants.
 France, Russia and Chandigarh (India) using ozone treatment.

Advantages:

 Ozone is a unstable compound and after the treatment nothing will remains in the water
as a sludge.
 Removes colour, taste, odour and bacteria.
 Ozonised water is tasty and chlorinated water is bitter to tongue.

Disadvantages:

 Process is costly than chlorination.

 Needs electricity.
 Future contamination protection is nil because ozone is unstable compound.
 Ozoniser is a complicated apparatus is required.
 Less efficient in killing bacteria than chlorine.

4) Treatment with Iodine and Bromine

 Treatment with iodine and bromine to water help in killing the pathogenic bacteria, and
thereby disinfecting the water.
 The quantity of disinfectant is limited to 8 ppm with a contact period of 5 minutes.
 It can be available in the form of pills.
 This type of disinfectant not used for large scale supplies, but may be used for treating
smaller water supplies for army troops, private plants, swimming pools etc.

5) Treatment with Ultraviolet Rays

 Ultraviolet rays are invisible rays of wavelength 1000 to 4000 micron meters.
 UV rays can be produced by passing electric current through mercury enclosed in
quartz bulbs.
 Mercury vapour lamps are good source for UV rays.
 These rays are highly effective in killing all types of bacteria.
 Water treated by UV rays should be colourless and turbidity should not exceed 15 mg/l.
 Water is passed around the quartz bulbs emitting the UV rays. The depth of water over
the bulbs should not exceed 10 cm, because these rays can effectively penetrate to this
much distance only.

6) Treatment with Potassium Permanganate (KMnO4)

  It can be applied only for well water supplies in villages which are generally
contaminated with fewer amounts of bacteria and also oxidizing the taste causing organic
matter.
 small amount of KMnO4 dissolved in a bucket of water and is mixed with well water
thoroughly, after adding KMnO4 water turns to pink colour if the organic matter absent
 If pink colour absent shows the presence of organic matter and more quantity of KMnO4
should be added, until the pink colour stands in water indicates the killing of all bacteria.
 The well water should not be used for at least 48 hours after the addition of KMnO4.
 Normal dosage is 1 to 2 mg/l with a contact period is 4 to 6 hours.
 It is cheap, handy and quite useful.
 It can removes about 98% of the disease causing bacteria in water.

7) Treatment with Silver or Electro-Katadyn Process

 In this method, water is passed through a tube containing solid silver electrodes, and then
the silver ions are dissolved into water.
 The silver ions have strong disinfection effect with a dosage of 0.05 to 0.1 mg/l and
contact period of 15 minutes.
 Use of silver is very costly and hence not adopted for public supplies.
 It can remove 100% of bacteria from the water.

Major Method of Disinfection

CHLORINATION
Chlorine is universally used for disinfecting of public water supplies. it is cheap, reliable, easy to
handle, easily measurable.

it is capable of providing residual disinfecting effect for a longer periods, thus providing
complete protection against future contamination of water in the distribution system.

its only disadvantage is that, when used in excess amounts it imparts bitter and bad taste to the
water which may not be liked by certain sensitive – tongued consumers.

Disinfecting Action of Chlorine or Theory of Disinfection

 when chlorine is added to water it forms hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ions, which
have an immediate and disastrous effect on bacteria’s

Cl2 + H2O HOCl + HCl

(Chlorine) (Hypochlorous acid)

  Hypochlorous acid is usually unstable and may breakdown into hypochlorite ions and
hydrogen ions.

HOCl H+ + OCl

(Hydrogen ions) (Hypochlorite ions)

 At higher pH values, the disaasociation of hypochlorous acid takes place. thus at pH

hreater thyan 10, only OCl ions are to be found.
 while in the pH less than 7 (more than 5), HOCl will exist without dissociating into OCL
ions and in the pH range of below 5, chlorine does not react and remains as elemental
chlorine.
 out of these forms of free available chlorine, hypochlorous acid is more effiective in
killing the bacteria about 80 times more effective than the hypochlorite ions. for this
reason, the pH value should be maintained slightly less than 7, so as to reduce the
dissociation of HOCl, and there by keeping more HOCl ions in solution compared to OCl
ions.
 also, hypochlorous acid immediately react with the ammonia present in water to form
various chloramines.

NH3 + HOCl NH2Cl + H2O

(Monochloramine)

NH2Cl + HOCl NHCl2 + H2O

(Dichloramines)

NHCl2 + HOCl NCl3 + H2O

(Nitrogen trichoramine)

 The chloramines so formed are stable and having disinfecting properties.

Forms of Chlorination or Application Forms of Chlorination or Various

Forms of Chlorine is Applied to Water
 In the form of hypochlorites or bleaching powder
 In the form of liquid chlorine or chlorine gas
 In the form of chlorine tablets
 In the form of chloramines (i.e, mixture of chlorine and ammonia)
 In the form of chlorine dioxide

1) In the form of Hypochlorites (Ca(OCl)2) and Bleaching powder

  Calcium and sodium hypochlorites are used for chlorinating small public supplies.
 When such hypochlorites is dissolved in water, it dissociates as as to form hypochlorite
ions.

Ca (OCl)2 Ca++ + 2 OCl

(Calcium hypochlorite) (Calcium ions) (Hypochlorite ions)

 The hypochlorite ions may further combine with the hydrogen ions present in water.
OCl + H+ HOCl
(Hypochlorite ions) ( Hypochlorous acid)

This process is known as hypochlorination.

 The hypochlorite ions as well as hypochlorous acid both causes disinfection of water.

Bleaching powder (CaOCl2) or Calcium oxychlorite:

 Bleaching powder is a white amorphous powdered compound with a plungent smell of

chlorine.
 When freshly made, it contains about 30% of available chlorine. however it is an unstable
compound and on exposure to air, light and moisture it rapidly losses its chlorine content.
 hypochlorites and bleaching powder are generally not used in modern days for treating
public water supplies because;
(i) they rise the pH value of water on account of their lime contents
(ii) they contain very low amounts of chlorine
(iii) Adopted only for small supplies, for swimming pools, well, tube wells etc.

2) In the form of liquid chlorine or chlorine gas

 The molecular chlorine (Cl2) can be carried and applied to the water to be treated in either
liquid or gaseous form.
 The liquid form is generally used these days and chlorine in its gaseous form is a greenish
yellow gas and heavier than the air and get dissolved in water.
 The gaseous form of chlorine gets converted into the liquid form, when subjected to a
pressure of 700 KN/m2.
 The chlorine liquid formed is an colored oily fluid and is generally available in cylinders
under a pressure of 700 to 1000 KN/m2.
 When it is applied to water, the pressure is released and the liquid chlorine gets converted
into gas, which escapes out of the cylinder and gets dissolved in water.
 Chlorine gas neither burns nor explodes and therefore it can be safely stored in steel
cylinders either in a gaseous form or in a liquid form.
  Chlorine gas causes irritation to the lungs and to the membranes of the nose and throat.
 So much chlorine of 20 mg/l may causes severe health hazards and even may cause death
just within 5 minutes.
 For these reasons chlorine must be stored properly and carefully in ventilated rooms and
carefully handled so as to avoid any leakage.

Advantages of using Free Ammonia Chlorine as a Disinfectant

The liquid chlorine is now a day’s invariably and universally adopted for disinfecting public
supplies.

 it can be easily stored for a long period

 it is quite cheap and easily available
 it occupies less space for storage
 it can be easily and cheaply transported
 the chlorine dose to be added can be easily measurable
 the initial cost of installation is also less
 powerful disinfectant and have residual disinfectant for larger time
 need careful handling
 no sludge is formed in its application

3) In the form of Chlorine Tablets

 Chlorine tablets may also be sometimes be used to disinfect small quantities of water, but
they are costly.
 Commercially chlorine tablets are available in the form of halazone tablets.
 The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur has introduced new
chlorine tablets, which is 1.5 times better than the ordinary halazone tablets and also
cheap rate.
 A single tablet of 0.5g is sufficient to disinfect about 20 liters of water.
 These tablets can be used for treating overhead water storage tanks or public supplies
during water borne epidemics or during floods when public supplies are liable to
contaminated.

4) In the form of Chloramines

 Chloramines are disinfectant compounds, which are formed by the reaction between
ammonia and chlorine.
NH3 + HOCl NH2Cl + H2O
  Chloramines are stable compounds and have a longer period residual disinfectant effect
in water.
 They are much weaker disinfectants compared to free chlorine.
 For producing chloramines, ammonia is added to the filtered water before adding
chlorine and properly mixed about 209 minutes to 2 hours earlier than applying chlorine.
 Since chloramines are weaker disinfectants compared to the chlorine.

Advantges:

 Do not cause bad taste and odour when lefts as residuals

 They are very useful when phenols are present in water.

5) Use of Chlorine Dioxide Gas (ClO2)

 Chlorine dioxide gas is a very effective and powerful disinfectant, about 2.5 times
stronger than chlorine.
 it is produced by passing chlorine gas through sodium chlorite, as follows;
2NaClO2 + Cl2 2NaCl + 2ClO2
(Sodium chlorite) (Chlorine dioxide gas)
 chlorine dioxide gas is costly and very unstable and has to be used immediately after its
production
 For these reasons, generally not used for treating water containing larger amounts of
organic impurities.
 It can be used for treating highly alkaline water with pH between 8 to 10. The normal
dose of chlorine dioxide gas usually ranges between 0.5 to 1.5 mg/l.

TYPES OF CHLORINATION

Depending upon the quantity of the chlorine added pr the stage at which it is added;

 plain chlorination
 Pre-chlorination
 Post chlorination
 Double chlorination
 Break point chlorination
 Super chlorination
 De-chlorination

1) Plain Chlorination

 This process indicates only chlorination and no other treatment has been given to the raw
water.
  The raw water is fed into the distribution system after giving chlorine treatment only and
this helps in removing bacteria, organic matter and colour from the raw water.
 This method is applied only for clearer water having turbidity less than 20 to 30 mg/l.
 It may also be used for supplying water for army troops during war times.
 The used quantity of chlorine for plain chlorination is about 0.5 mg/l.

2) Pre-Chlorination

 Pre-chlorination is the process of applying the chlorine to the water before the filtration
or coagulation cum sedimentation.
 It also helps in improving coagulation and reduces the load on filters. it also reduces the
taste, odour, algae and other organisms.
 The chlorine dose should be such that about 0.1 to 0.5 mg/l of residual chlorine comes to
the filter plant. the normal doses required are 5 – 10 mg/l
 However, pre-chlorination is always followed by post chlorination, so as to ensure the
final safety of water.

3) Post Chlorination

 Post chlorination is a process of applying the chlorine to the water after the filtration and
before the water enters to the distribution network.
 The dosage of chlorine should be such as to leave a residual chlorine of about 0.1 to 0.2
mg/l after a contact period of about 20 minutes.
 This residual chlorine will ensure the disinfection of water and to protect t the water from
future contamination.

4) Double Chlorination

 It indicates that water has been chlorinated twice.

 The pre-chlorination and post chlorination is generally used in double chlorination.
 This method is used when the water is highly turbid and contaminated.

5) Break-point Chlorination

 Break point chlorination gives an idea of the extent of chlorine to be added to the water.
It represents that much chlorination beyond which any further addition of chlorine will
appear as free residual chlorine.
 When chlorine is added to the water, generally reacts with ammonia present in water so
as to form chloramines.
 If chlorine is added to the water and the residual is tested, it will found that the residual
go on increasing with the addition of chlorine.
 However, some amount of chlorine is consumed for killing the bacteria and thus the
amount of chlorine is to be slightly less than that added chlorine as indicated by the
curve AB in the graph.

 If the addition of chlorine continued beyond the point B, the organic matter present in
water gets oxidized. Therefore, the residual chlorine content suddenly falls down, as
shown by the curve BC.
 The point C is the point beyond which any further addition of chlorine will appear
equally as free chlorine, since nothing it shall be utilized. The point “C” is called as
break point as any chlorine that is added to the water beyond this point, breaks through
the water and appears as residual chlorine.
 The addition of chlorine beyond the break point is called as break point chlorination.
 At the point B, when oxidation of the organic matter starts, a bad smell and taste appears
and which disappears at the break point C, when the oxidation has been completed.
 Generally, the chlorine is added beyond the break point and thus to ensure a residual of
0.2 to 0.3 mg/l of free chlorine. This residual chlorine can’t be removed except by sun
light so that it protects the water in a distribution pipes from the future contamination.
6) Super Chlorination

 Super chlorination is the process of addition of excess chlorine i.e., 5 to 10 mg/l to the
water.
 This method is followed during the water borne epidemics and highly turbid water to be
treated.
 This process is used normally when the water contains bacteria Histolytica, which causes
amoebic dysentery.
 After the break point it will give 1 to 2 mg/l of residual chlorine in this method.

7) De-Chlorination

 Sometimes higher doses of chlorine may be used for water in a extreme conditions and
the resultant water is to be dechlorinated after the end of desired contact period by using
dechlorinating agents such as sodium thiosulphate, activated carbon or by simply aerating
the water.
 This ensures the removal bad taste and odour caused by the presence of excess chlorine.
 Therefore, de-chlorination means removing the chlorine from water by maintaining the
residual chlorine of about 0.2 to 0.3 mg/l.

SOFTENING OF WATER
The removal of hardness from water is known as water softening.

The advantages of softening of water are;

 Reduces the soap consumption

 Lowered cost in maintaining plumbing fixtures and improved taste of food preparations
 For the industrial supplies, the softening is more important, because hard water causes
scaling troubles in boilers and interferes in working with dyeing system.

Methods of Removal of Temporary Hardness

The temporary hardness can be removed by boiling and adding lime to the water

 Boiling of water
 Addition of lime

i) Boiling of Water:

Calcium carbonate usually exists in water as calcium carbonate, because it easily dissolves in
natural water containing carbon dioxide. When such water is boiled, the carbon dioxide gas will
evolved out, leading to the precipitation of calcium carbonate, which can be sedimented out in
the settling tank.

Ca(HCO3)2 + Heat CaCO3 +CO2 + H2O

The magnesium carbonate and magnesium bicarbonate cannot be satisfactorily removed by

boiling, since MgCO3 is fairly soluble in water.

Also, large scale boiling of public supplies is practically not possible and hence, boiling is not
adopted for softening in the large scale treatment.

ii) Addition of Lime

For softening of water, generally hydrated lime Ca(OH)2 is added to the water and the following
reactions will takes place.

MgCO3 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaCO3

(Insoluble ppt) (Insoluble ppt)

Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 Ca(HCO3)2 + Mg(OH)2

(Insoluble ppt)

Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + 2H2O

(Insoluble ppt)

The calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide are precipitated and can be removed in the
sedimentation tank.

This method is generally adopted for softening of water which contains only temporary hardness.

Methods of Removing Permanent Hardness

The permanent hardness is difficult to remove, so that certain special methods are adopted, called
as softening methods.

Following methods commonly adopted for removing both temporary and permanent hardness.

 lime-soda process
 Base exchange process or zeolite process
 Reverse osmosis
i) Lime-Soda Process

in this process, lime (Ca(OH)2) and soda ash (Na2CO3) are added to raw water, which react with
calcium and magnesium salts, so as to form insoluble precipitates of calcium carbonate and
magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2). These precipitates can be settled in the settling tank.

The chemical reactions which are involved are;

Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + 2H2O

(Insoluble ppt)

Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 Ca(HCO3)2 + Mg(OH)2

(Insoluble ppt)

MgCO3 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaCO3

(Insoluble ppt) (Insoluble ppt)

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

(Non-Carbonate hardness of Mg) (Non-Carbonate hardness of Ca)

MgSO4 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaSO4

(Non-Carbonate hardness of Ca)

CaCl2 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + 2NaCl

(Soda ash) (Sodium salts)

CaSO4 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + Na2SO4

From the above reactions shows that, lime helps in removing the entire carbonate hardness of Ca
and Mg and it reacts with non-carbonate hardness of Ca. then the non-carbonate hardness of Ca
is finally removed by soda.

The sodium salts which are finally formed are soluble in water, but are generally not
objectionable in the amounts resulting from the softening process.

Most of the calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide which is formed gets precipitated and
can be sedimented in the settling tank.

However a little quantity of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide may remain as finely
divided particles, and may cause troubles by getting deposited on the filter to cause enlargement
of the sand grains called incrustation of filter media or in the pipes of the distribution system. To
prevent this, water is to be recarbonated by passing carbon dioxide gas through it, as it leaves the
sedimentation tank. In the recarbonation process, the insoluble carbonates combine with the
carbon dioxide to again form the soluble bicarbonates, as given below:

CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O Ca(HCO3)2

(Insoluble cal. carbonate) (Soluble Cal.bicarbonate)

Mg(OH)2 + CO2 MgCO3 + H2O

MgCO3 + CO2 +H2O Mg(HCO3)2

The carbon dioxide gas to be blown in water can be produced by burning coke, gas or oil. By the
recarbonation process, even though the water regains some of its hardness, yet recarbonation is
advisable.

Advantages of lime-soda process

 The process is economical

 When lime and soda are added in addition to the coagulants, during the process of
softening cum coagulation, lesser quantity of coagulant is generally required.
 This treatment leads to an increase in the pH value of water, thus reducing the corrosion
of the distribution pipes.
 The increased causticity may also sometimes helps in killing the pathogenic bacteria.
 This treatment helps in reducing the total mineral content of water.
 It helps in removing iron and magnesium from the water to a certain extent.

Disadvantages of lime-soda treatment

 A large quantity of sludge in the form of insoluble precipitates of calcium carbonate and
magnesium hydroxide will leads to the disposal problems.
 Careful operation and skilled supervision is required in order to get good results.
 Incrustation of the pipe walls of the distribution system will result.
 This process will not be help in producing water of zero hardness.

ii) Zeolite Process or Base Exchange or Cation-Exchange Process

 Zeolites are the natural salts or clays, which are hydrated silicates of sodium and
aluminum. The synthetic zeolites are called as “resins”.
 The zeolites or resins have the excellent property of exchanging their cations and hence
during softening operation, the sodium ions of the zeolite get replaced by the calcium and
magnesium ions present in hard water.
Where “Z” stands for the complex zeolite radical.

 the calcium and magnesium zeolite can be regenerated into active sodium zeolite by
treating with 5-10% solution of sodium chloride.

 A zeolite softener unit is similar to the pressure sand filter unit but in which the filter
media is zeolite rather than sand.
 The hard water enters through the top and is evenly distributed on the entire zeolite bed.
The softened water is collected through the strainers at the base.
 When a significant portion of the sodium in the zeolite has been replaced by calcium and
magnesium. It is regenerated by washing it with water by receiving the flow and then
treating it with 10% solution of brine.

 The excess brine solution retained in the solution after the treatment is removed by again
washing it with good water. Then the regenerated zeolite can be used for fresh softening
process.
 The rate of filtration through the zeolite bed is 300 liters/minute/m2.
 The zeolite process will result in a water of zero hardness, which is generally not suitable
for public supplies.
Advantages

 Zero hardness of the water can be obtained and hence, useful for specific uses in
industries.
 The plant is compact, automatic and easy to operate.
 No sludge is formed.
 The RMO cost is quite less.
 It removes ferrous iron and manganese from the water.
 There is no difficulty in treating water of varying quality.
 There is no problem of incrustation of pipes in the distribution system.

Disadvantages

 This process is not suitable for treating highly turbid water, because the suspended
impurities get deposited around the zeolite particles and thus cause obstruction to the
working of the zeolite.
 The process leaves sodium bicarbonate in water, which causes priming and foaming in
industrial or boiler feed waters.
 The zeolite process costlier and unsuitable for treating water containing iron and
manganese. This is because of the fact that the iron zeolite or manganese zeolite formed
during the chemical reactions cannot be regenerated into sodium zeolite. Thus the zeolite
becomes wasted, although the iron and manganese are removed from the water.

Comparison between Lime-Soda Process and Zeolite Process

SL Item Lime Soda Process Zeolite Process

NO.
1 Size of the plant Bulky and large Compact and small
2 Skilled Careful and skilled supervision is Automatic and easy to operate
supervision necessary
3 Sludge problems Large quantity of sludge is No sludge is formed and there is
formed, and poses disposal no problem of disposal of sludges.
problem of sludge’s.
4 Post treatment Recarbonation is must after No such treatment is required
sedimentation and filtration
5 Hradness This can produce water of Water of zero hardness can be
removal rate hardness not less than about 50 obtained. therefore useful for
mg/l. Therefore useful for public industrial supplies also.
supplies only
6 pH of the treated Increases the pH value of the The pH value of the water is not
water water, which reduces the affected
corrosion of distribution pipes
7 Handling Careful handling is required Much care of brine solution not
because the materials (lime and required.
soda) are corrosive
8 Effects on The increased causticity may help No such advantage is offered by
bacteria in killing the pathogenic bacteria this process.
9 Allowable Highly turbid and acidic water can Highly turbid water are difficult
turbidities in raw be treated to be treated, because the
water suspended impurities deposited
around the zeolite particles cause
obstruction to the working of the
zeolite.
10 Economy Process is economical Process is costlier

REVERSE OSMOSIS
Reverse osmosis is a process of removal of salt ions from the raw water by forcing the slat
solution against a semi permeable membrane barrier, which permits the flow of water through
itself but stops the salts. The process is also called as desalination process.

In natural osmosis process, when salt solution is separated from pure water by a semi permeable
membrane, the pure water flows across membrane until the pressure on the pure water side
become equal to the osmotic pressure of the salt solution.

But in reverse osmosis process, the natural osmotic pressure is opposed by exerting an external
pressure on the salt solution. in other words the osmotic pressure is reversed, and this external
high pressure working in opposition to natures low osmotic pressure, forces pure water from the
salt solution to move across the membrane towards the side containing water.

The osmotic pressure is proportional to the TDS of the water, and a pressure of at least twice the
osmotic pressure is required to an economically feasible flow. The semi permeable membrane
used in this process is hence thin but dense and strong enough to withstand the high external
pressure. It is supported by a grid and the salty water circulates against on surface of it. This
surface has a thick and a tough ski, while the body ogf the membrane is softer and less dense.
reverse osmosis does not work below 60000 KN/m 2 and is usually operated at about 100000
KN/m2.
 Fig: Reverse Osmosis

Demineralisation Process for Removing Hardness

Demineralization means removing hardness causing minerals from water. It is suitable for
producing water of any desired hardness or even mineral free water. The demineralised water
sometimes called as deionised water, and it is pure as distilled water, and is very suitable for
industrial purposes.

This complete removal of minerals present in water can be carried out by first passing the water
through a bed of cation exchange resins and then through a bed of anion exchange resins.

The process of passing the water through cation exchange resins produces almost similar effects
as produced in the zeolite method, except that hydrogen (instead of sodium) is exchanged for the
basic cations. The cation exchange resins are phenol aldehyde condensation products, which on
sulphonation produces resinous mass having base ion exchange properties. Their chemical
formula may be represented as “”H2R”, where H represents hydrogen ion and “R” represents
organic part of the substance.

The chemical reactions involved during the processes are;

Ca(HCO3)2 + H2R CaR + 2H2O + 2CO2

(Fresh Cation exchange resin) (Exhausted resin)

 CaCl2 + H2R CaR + 2HCl

MgSO4 + H2R MgR + H2SO4

2 NaCl + H2R Na2R + 2HCl

The water coming out of the cation exchanger will contain diluted carbonic acid, hydrochloric
acid, sulphuric acid etc, and it can be removed by passing the water through a bed of anion
exchange resins.

The anion exchange resins are formed by the condensation of amines with formaldehyde and are
capable of replacing the anions with hydroxyl ions. The chemical formula for such a resin
represented as “ROH”, where “OH” represented hydroxyl ions and “R” represents the organic
part of the substance.

The chemical reactions involved are;

HCl + ROH RCl + H 2O

(Fresh anion exchange resin) ( Exhausted resin) Water

H2SO4 + 2 ROH R2SO4 + 2H2O

(Fresh anion exchange resin) ( Exhausted resin) Water

The water coming out from this anion exchanger will then be free from minerals. The extent of
removal of hardness will depend upon the strength and freshness of the resins used.

The exhausted resins can be regenerated as;

Regeneration of Cation Excahange Resin

The exhausted cation exchange resin can be regenerated by treating them with dilute hydrochloric
acid or sulphuric acid.
Regeneration of Anion Exchange Resin:

The exhausted anion exchange resins can be similarly regenerated by treating them with sodium
carbonate solution.

RCl + Na2CO3 + 2H2O 2ROH + 2NaCl + CO2 + H2O

(Exhausted anion resin) (regenerated anion resin