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HARDNESS OF WATER
• Water is a very essential substance for all living things. Over 70% of the earth’s surface is
covered by water. On earth, water is found mostly in oceans and in other large water bodies
such as lakes. It is also found below the ground as underground water and in the air as water
vapour.
• Water is good solvent and readily dissolve substances that dissociate into free ions on mixing
with it. These dissolved substances are the main impurities in water which cause water
hardness.
• Water hardness describes the property of water containing some dissolved substances that cause
it to react with soap or detergents leading to deposition of scum. This renders the detergents
ineffective.
• The reaction between give sample of water and soap or detergents is, therefore, the basis for
determining the hardness of water.
• Soft water readily forms lather with soap.
• Sign of soft water include;
i. A healthy lather when washing clothes, dishes, and even your hands and body.
ii. Clothes that are cleaner, with no mineral stains and less wear and tear damage.
iii. Healthy water pressure in your home.
• Hard water does not readily form lather with soap.
i. Feeling a film on your hands after washing them. This caused by the soap reacting with
calcium to form soap scum.
ii. Spots; these can appear on glasses and silverware coming out dishwasher.
iii. Less water pressure in your home, mineral deposits can form in the pipes, essentially
shrinking the interior diameter of the pipes and reduce water flow.
• Hardness of water is caused by dissolved calcium and magnesium compounds. These
compounds include ‘calcium sulphate (CaSO4)’, ‘calcium hydrogencarbonate (Ca(HCO3)2)’,
‘magnesium sulphate (MgSO4)’ and ‘magnesium hydrogencarbonate (Mg(HCO3)2).
• Soap is less effective in hard water because it reacts to form the calcium or magnesium salt of
the organic acid of the soap. These salts are insoluble and form soap scum.

Example; Calcium sulphate + Sodium stearate → Calcium stearate + sodium sulphate

(The hardness) (Soap) (Scum)
• The soap and the hardness join to form scum. The other compound formed (for example sodium
suphate) is soluble and dissolved in water.
• Calcium hydrogencarbonate is the most common cause of hardness of water. It forms when rain
falls on rocks of limestones and chalk, which are mainly composed of the insoluble calcium
carbonate. However, as the rain fall through the air, it dissolves carbon dioxide to form weak
carbonic acid solution. This solution reacts with the calcium carbonate to form soluble calcium
hydrogen carbonate.

Water + carbon dioxide + calcium carbonate → calcium hydrogen carbonate

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H2O (l) + CO2 (g) + CaCO3 (s) → Ca(HCO3)2 (aq)

• Dolomite and gypsum are other rocks that cause hardness of water.

Types of water hardness

Hard water can be classified into two groups. These groups are;
i. Temporary hard water is the water that contains hydrogencarbonates of calcium and
magnesium.
ii. Permanent hard water is the water that contains sulphates or chloride of calcium or magnesium.

Treatments and purification of hard water

• Hard water is treated in order to soften so that it can be used for domestic, industrial and other
purpose.
• The softening is achieved either by chemicals that form precipitates or by ion exchange.
• Water softening is process in which ions of calcium, magnesium and sometimes iron, copper
and manganese are removed from hard water.
• Hard water purification is a process by which undesirable chemical compounds, organic and
inorganic materials are removed from water.

Methods used for softening hard water

i. Boiling; boiling decomposes calcium and magnesium hydrogencarbonate to form carbonates,
water and carbon dioxide gas. The calcium and magnesium ions are removed from water as
insoluble carbonates and then deposited as solid at the bottom of boilers.
boil
𝐶𝑎(𝐻𝐶𝑂3 )2 (𝑎𝑞) → 𝐶𝑎𝐶𝑂3 (𝑠) + 𝐻2 𝑂 (𝑙) + 𝐶𝑂2 (𝑔)
𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙
𝑀𝑔(𝐻𝐶𝑂3 )2 (𝑎𝑞 ) → 𝑀𝑔𝐶𝑂3 (𝑆) + 𝐻2 𝑂 (𝑙) + 𝐶𝑂2 (𝑔)
• Boiling method is used to remove only temporary hardness of water because the sulphates or
chloride of calcium or magnesium in a permanent hardness of water become more soluble as the
temperature increase.
ii. Addition of aqueous ammonia; when aqueous ammonia is added to a temporary hard water, the
soluble hydrogencarbonates of magnesium or calcium are converted into insoluble carbonates
Example; Ca(𝐻𝐶𝑂3 )2 (𝑎𝑞) + 2𝑁𝐻4 𝑂𝐻 (𝑎𝑞) → 𝐶𝑎𝐶𝑂3 (𝑠) + (𝑁𝐻4 )2 𝐶𝑂3 (𝑎𝑞) + 2𝐻2 𝑂 (𝑙)
• When aqueous ammonia is added to permanent hard water the soluble sulphates or chloride of
magnesium and calcium are converted into insoluble hydroxide.
Example; 2𝑁𝐻4 𝑂𝐻 (𝑎𝑞) + 𝑀𝑔𝑆𝑂4 (𝑎𝑞) → Mg(OH)2 (𝑠) + (𝑁𝐻4 )2 𝑆𝑂4 (𝑎𝑞
iii. Distillation; This process relies on evaporation followed by condensation to purify hard water.
During distillation, the hard water is heated to form steam which then cools and condenses to
form soft water. The salts are left behind when water evaporates.
This gets rid of both temporary and permanent hardness. It also gives the softest water.
However, it is the most expensive way to soften water.

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iv. Adding sodium carbonate (NaCO3) – (washing soda); Sodium carbonate is added to the water to
precipitate calcium carbonate. This removes both temporary and permanent hardness of water.
Consider the following chemical equation;

CaSO4 (aq) + Na2CO3 (aq) → Na2CO3 (aq) + CaCO3 (s)

𝑀𝑔(𝐻𝐶𝑂3 )2 (𝑎𝑞) 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂3 (𝑎𝑞) → 𝑀𝑔𝐶𝑂3 (𝑠) + 2𝑁𝑎𝐻𝐶𝑂2 (𝑎𝑞)

v. Use of iron exchangers; An iron exchanger is a container full of small beads. The beads are
made of a special plastic called ion exchange resin. This has ions, for example sodium ions, that
are weakly attached to it.
This can remove both types of water hardness by removing all the calcium and
magnesium ions in the water. When hard water is passed through the ion exchanger, the
calcium and magnesium ions in it change places with the sodium ions and attach
themselves to the resin. The calcium and magnesium ions are therefore left behind in
the resin as the soft water flows out with the sodium ions.
After sometime, all the sodium ions will have been replaced and the exchanger cannot
remove hardness any more. This is resolved by ‘regeneration’ of the resin by pouring a
concentrated solution of a sodium chloride into the exchanger. The sodium ions push
the calcium and magnesium ions off the resin, making the ion exchanger ready to use
again.

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vi. Treatment with calcium hydroxide (lime water)

The soluble magnesium or calcium hydrogencarbonates react with calcium hydroxide to form
insoluble magnesium or calcium carbonate and water.
𝐶𝑎(𝐻𝐶𝑂3 )2 (𝑎𝑞) + 𝐶𝑎(𝑂𝐻)2 (𝑎𝑞) → 2𝐶𝑎𝐶𝑂3 (𝑠) + 2𝐻2 𝑂 (𝑙)
The insoluble carbonate deposited and soft water is obtained. This method is used to remove
both temporary and permanent hardness of water.

Advantage of hard water

i. It provides useful calcium for the growth of bones and teeth.
ii. It tastes better due to dissolved compounds.
iii. The formation of lime scale in pipes forms a sort of insulation which prevents water in a
tape from coming into contact with the metal surface of the pipe. This prevents pipe
corrosion and addition of poisonous metal salts in water.
iv. Hard water helps in the formation of strong shell in some aquatic animals.

Disadvantage of hard water

i. Hard water needs more soap than soft water. This means a lot of soap is wasted.
ii. Hard water leaves scummy deposits on clothing and utensils that are difficult to wash
out.
iii. Temporary hardness of water causes limescale in water boilers, hot water pipes, kettles
and other appliances. This makes them less efficient. It can also cause blockage in the
appliances and has to be removed from time to time.

Review questions
1. Define the following terms;
i. Soft water
ii. Hard water
iii. Permanent hardness
iv. Temporary hardness
2. The formation of limescale in water pipes is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Explain
3. Explain how ion exchanger works in removing hardness of water
4. Give two advantage and two disadvantages of hard water.

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5. Outline three ways to remove hardness of water.

6. What would happen if urban water is not treated for hardness?
7. Name the most economical method of treating urban water for hardness.
8. Samples of water from four different areas were tested with soap solution to establish how
much soap solution was needed to form a lather that lasted for at least 30 seconds. The
experiment was repeated a second time using samples that had been boiled and then a third time
using sample that had been passed through an ion exchanger. The results are shown in the
following table.

Sample Volume of soap solution used

(cm3)

Untreated water Boiled water Water passed

through an ion
exchanger

A 12 1.8 1.8
B 17 17 1.7
C 26 20 1.8
D 1.6 1.6 1.6

a) Which of the sample is hardest water? Give a reason for your answer.
b) Which sample behaves like distilled water. Explain.
c) Name a chemical substance that could cause hardness in:
i. Sample A
ii. Sample B
d) Write an equation for the reaction of removing hardness in sample C.
9. Give three difference between temporary hard water and permanent hard water.
10. (a) Give the meaning of the following
i. Temporary hardness of water
ii. Permanent hardness of water
(b) Name a substance which when dissolves in water causes
i. Temporary hardness of water
ii. Permanent hardness of water
(c) Explain with the aid of chemical equation in each case: how
i. Temporary hardness of water is removed by boiling.
ii. Permanent hardness of water is removed by chemical process. (TAHOSSA 2020)

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