About Water Purity

A Simple Water Test:

To test the purity of your water, pour a little
water into a disposable transparent cup. Add
a few drops of Silver Solution. If the water
turns white and cloudy, it is not pure
enough.
Why Water Quality Matters
Mirroring chemicals contain metal salts
dissolved in water. When the salts combine
with other mirroring chemicals, the metal
comes out of solution and deposits on the
glass. The reaction does not work properly
when there are unknown chemicals,
especially other metal salts, present in the
mix.
Water Purification Techniques

Distillation
Distilled water is condensed from steam.
Impurities that dont evaporate, like sodium
chloride insea water and metal leached from
plumbing pipes, are removed. Some volatile
compounds like hydrocarbons and solvents
remain, but these do not affect the mirroring
process. Steam distilled water is sold in
many supermarkets for ironing clothes and
washing windows and cars. Steam distilled
water is usually the best and cheapest option
for mirroring.
De-ionization
Deionized water is filtered through ion
exchange resins that bind and filter out
mineral salts leaving the water almost as
pure as distilled water. This kind of water is
also called demineralized or de-
mineralized. The resins are also called
water softeners and are usually packed
into a long tube with the water running
through it. After a time the resin has bound
as much of the mineral content as it can and
has to be refreshed. While expensive, a
deionizing column produces water pure
enough for mirroring.
Reverse Osmosis
This is a relatively new technique in water
purification which mechanically removes
large particles by forcing the contaminated
water through a membrane which allows the
small water molecules to pass through but
not the larger salt and organic molecules. It
is the ways the kidneys in your body remove
waste products and is used in dialysis
machines. It does not involve adding any
chemicals or boiling but the membrane
eventually gets clogged and must be
replaced.
Household Filters
Standard household water filters use
activated carbon to remove chlorine,
particulates and volatile organic compounds
from tap water. Because they do not remove
minerals and other dissolved inorganic salts,
they do not produce water that is pure
enough for mirroring.
Rain Water
Rain water and tap water contain dissolved
organic and inorganic compounds. While
many of these are essential for human
health, they can seriously affect the
mirroring process. Water for mirroring
needs to be pure; it does not need to be
sterile. Most biological contaminants will
not affect the process.

Water for Cleaning
You do not need to use pure water to clean
the glass. Hot tap water works fine for
scrubbing and polishing. You must remove
the tap water by rinsing the glass thoroughly
with pure (distilled) water before you
proceed with tinning and mirroring it.
Spraying the glass with purified water is the
most efficient and cost effective way to rinse
it. Water used for cleaning can go directly
into the public sewer.
Treating Waste Water
Mirroring chemicals and therefore the
mirroring waste water contain heavy
metals. The clay in our Waste Treatment Kit
binds and isolates heavy metals. Used clay
can be safely put in the solid trash. Treated,
filtered waste water can be safely poured
down the drain. See our Waste Treatment
Instructions for details.
OR
activity: Water Purity Test
The boiling point of pure water is 100
degrees celsius. If water contains any
impurities this will alter its boiling point.
What you will need:
5 samples of water - tap water,
distilled water and 3 other sources
(this could be tap water from a
different area, pond water, river
water, sea water)
accurate thermometer
several clean, dry boiling tubes
clamp stand and boss
bunsen burner
test tube rack, or large beaker to
hold the boiling tubes in
safety glasses
What you will do:
1. Put some safety glasses on.
2. Pour 2 cm
3
of your water sample into
a boiling tube.
3. Clamp the boiling tube at a slight
angle, so you can heat the bottom of
the tube. Make sure it is not pointing
at anyone's face.
4. Put the thermometer into the tube
and carefully clamp it, so it doesn't
touch the base or side of the boiling
tube.
5. Heat the liquid water until it boils
and record the temperature it boils at.
answers: Water Purity Test
The boiling point of pure water is 100
degrees celsius. If water contains any
impurities this will alter its boiling point.
The purest water was probably the distilled
water, but tap and mineral water would also
have been pure. All of these water samples
would have had a boiling point that was very
close to 100 degrees celsius.
To make this experiment fairer you really
should've carried out each boiling point test
3 times. You could have then taken an
average of your boiling points for each
water sample. This would have made sure
that you did not have an anomalous (wrong)
result.
The kind of pollutants you find in water that
has come from our homes are detergents
(soaps) and sewage. Farms can cause
pollution from their use of fertilisers and
pesticides. The manure from farm yard
animals is also a problem if it gets into our
water supplies. Industries have to be very
careful not to pollute our water. Industrial
companies get fined huge amounts of
money if any of their pollutants get into our
water system. The common industrial
pollutants are acids, alkalis and compounds
of poisonous metals.