CEE 3413 Environmental Engineering

Lecture 13 Water Treatment, with

Groundwater as Source
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Tania Datta
Office: Prescott Hall, Room No. 333
Email: tdatta@tntech.edu

Types of Potable Water Source

Ground- vs. Surface Water

Groundwater
Constant composition
Low turbidity
Low color
Low or no DO
High hardness
High Fe, Mn

Surface water
Variable composition
High turbidity
Colored
DO present
Low hardness
Taste and odor

Groundwater Treatment
Groundwater Treatment:
Primary objectives are to
1.Remove hardness and other ions
2.Eliminate pathogenic organisms
Treatment technologies largely based on
chemical precipitation

Groundwater Treatment
Depending on the characteristics of raw water,
primary objectives of Groundwater Treatment are:

o Removal of Hardness
o Removal of Iron and Manganese
o Removal of other ions or heavy metals
o Filtration
o Disinfection

Groundwater Treatment
Total Hardness (TH)
Practically - the sum of the predominant polyvalent
cations (Mg2+ and Ca2+ only) in consistent units (meq/L
or mg/L as CaCO3)

TH CMg 2 CCa 2

Groundwater Treatment
Softening
Hardness (Ca2+ and Mg2+ ) is commonly removed in
a process called softening
In softening, these ions are removed according to
these general reactions:

Ca

Mg

CO

2
3

CaCO 3 ( s )

2OH Mg OH 2 ( s )

Groundwater Treatment
Ca2+ Removal

If water naturally had enough carbonate, CO32-,

for all Ca2+ to precipitate, removal of hardness
would be easy
Since it typically doesnt, bicarbonate (HCO3-) is
converted to carbonate (CO32-) by raising pH:

HCO3- + OH- = CO32- + H2O

Groundwater Treatment
Mg2+ Removal

Will need to add OH-

Drinking Water Treatment - Groundwater

Lime-Soda Softening
Adjust chemistry of the water by adding lime (CaO)
or soda ash (Na2CO3)

Which chemical to add depends on the type of

hardness to be removed

Drinking Water Treatment - Groundwater

Softening Chemistry
1. Neutralization of free acid/H2CO3 removal
H2CO3 + Ca(OH)2 CaCO3(s) + 2H2O
2. Precipitation of CH due to calcium
Ca2+ + 2HCO3- + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3(s) + 2H2O
3. Precipitation of CH due to magnesium
Mg2+ + 2HCO3- + 2Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3(s) + Mg(OH)2(s)+ 2H2O

Drinking Water Treatment - Groundwater

Softening Chemistry
4. Removal of NCH due to calcium:
Ca2+ + Na2CO3 CaCO3(s) + 2Na+
5. Removal of NCH due to magnesium :
Mg2+ + Ca(OH)2 + Na2CO3 Mg(OH)2(s)+ CaCO3(s) + 2Na+

Drinking Water Treatment - Groundwater

Softening Process Limitations
Due to kinetic limitations and the solubility of CaCO3 and
Mg(OH)2, lime-soda softening cannot produce water
completely free of hardness
Ca2+ limited to ~ 30 mg/L as CaCO3
Mg2+ limited to ~ 10 mg/L as CaCO3
To avoid slimy feel of soft water, normally aim for 75-120
mg/L as CaCO3.

Drinking Water Treatment - Groundwater

Softening Process Limitations
Based on experience, more Ca(OH)2 must be provided than
that predicted by stoichiometry
a minimum excess of 20 mg/L as Ca(OH)2 is used
Also, Mg2+ in excess of 40 mg/L causes scaling. Therefore
treatment plants only remove Mg2+ in excess of 40 mg/L

Drinking Water Treatment - Groundwater

Ion-Exchange Softening
Ion-exchange is a process that drives
reversible exchange of ions between a
solid and a liquid phase
Calcium and magnesium in the water are
exchanged for sodium from the resin
granules.

Resins

SOURCE: http://water.me.vccs.edu;
http://www.isws.illinois.edu/chem/ps
l/softeners.asp

Drinking Water Treatment - Groundwater

Ion-Exchange Softening
Ion exchange softening is effective at
removing both carbonate and
noncarbonate hardness
Often used for waters high in
noncarbonate hardness
Disadvantages include:
o The Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions are replaced by
sodium ions, which may cause health
problems for people not supposed to eat
any salt
o Ion-exchange resins also have to be
regenerated, similar to the backwash
concept of filters

Drinking Water Treatment - Groundwater

Additional Reading Assignment:
Softening: Textbook, section 6-3
Adsorption: Textbook, section 6-8