Explain Hardness of Water
Explain Hardness of Water The water that occurs in nature always contains salts, which exist in water as positive and negative ions. The salinity of fresh water is 1000 mg/L (1L of water contains 1000 mg of various salts or ions). The typical cations present in natural water are sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium; the most common anions are chloride, sulfate, bicarbonate, nitrates, etc. Hardness of water refers to presence of calcium and magnesium ions. When water is heated, the reaction (Tebbutt, 1999):
takes place. Calcium carbonate, unlikely other salts, is insoluble and forms precipitate. The precipitate is ...