Testing the Hardness of Water

Purpose:

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the hardness of a water sample by measuring t
he

amount of calcium present. This analysis will utilize the method of titration.

Introduction:

All natural waters have salts dissolved in them. It is these salts that give water a unique taste.

Sometimes the water can contain too much of these salts and can cause problems when the w
ater

is used for drinking or washing. These problems are caused mainly by the presence of calcium

and magnesium ions in the water. You may have experienced this problem if you have taken a

bath with water that contained too many calcium and magnesium salts. The problem is that you

cannot get the soap to lather and form suds. When this happens, we say that the water is “har
d.”

In this experiment, you will analyze a sample of water to measure the amount of calcium (or th
e

water hardness) by performing titrations on water samples you provide from home or other

sources. In the previous experiment, you learned how to perform a titration and use a buret so
an

in-depth explanation is not necessary. However, the reaction in this titration is not a

neutralization reaction as in the acetic acid titration. In this case, an EDTA (ethylenediamine

tetra-acetic acid) solution is the titrant, which will react or capture (also called chelate) the

calcium ions in the water as shown in equation 1 below.

Eqn. 1

(EDTA4-) (CaEDTA2-)

The reaction between calcium ions and EDTA only occurs at a high pH; therefore, a solution th
at
has a constant pH of 10 (called a buffer) will to be added to the water sample.

Just as in the acid-base reactions, you must use an indicator to identify when the reaction is

complete. In this experiment, Eriochrome black T, a metal ion indicator, will be used to

visualize the endpointOH

+ Ca2+

A metal ion indicator is a compound whose color changes when it binds to a metal ion. For su
ch

an indicator to be useful in the titration of a metal with EDTA, the indicator must give up its

metal ion to the EDTA. The indicator in its free form, i.e. not bound to any metal, is blue. A

small amount of indicator is added to the solution containing the Ca2+ forming a wine red

complex (Equation 2.) If we denote the indicator as In2-, we can write the reaction as:

Ca2+ + In2- CaIn Eqn. 2

(blue) (wine red)

CaIn + EDTA4- CaEDTA2- + In2- Eqn. 3

(wine red) (blue)

In this experiment, the end point will be indicated when the original red solution turns to blue

(Equation 3) indicating that the EDTA has reacted with all the calcium ions in the water sample.

After the measurement, it will be necessary to calculate the amount of calcium ions present. Th
e

concentration units used to measure the water hardness is normally parts per million (ppm.) In

this experiment you will measure calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in ppm. (One part per million is

the same as 1 mL/L.) You will be able determine the hardness of your water sample by

measuring the volume of your water sample and the volume (in mL) of the EDTA solution used

to react with all of the calcium in the water sample. You will calculate the ppm of calcium

carbonate in your water sample by using the following calculation

ppm CaCO3 = mL of EDTA used in titration X 1000 ppm

mL of water sample

Once the concentration in ppm is determined, it can be related to the hardness scale in Table 1
.

Concentration (ppm) Hardness Rating

< 61 Soft

61 – 120 Moderately hard

121-180 Hard

> 180 Very hard