WATER

EDTA PROCESS

THEORY

EDTA-It is ethylene diammine tetra acetic acid.

Most widely used method to determine hardness of water.

It is a weak acid that can lose four H+ ions on complete
neutralization.
As it is not very water soluble hence its sodium salt is usedNa2H2C10H12N2O4.
Molecular weight-372.24
Reacts with only group-2 metal ions.

Structure of EDTA-

PRINCIPLE
Metal ion solution is titrated with standardized EDTA
solution.
Indicator used is Eriochrome black-T(EBT).

WATER

EDTA PROCESS

THEORY

(EBT is alcoholic solution of blue eye. With Ca2+ and Mg2+

it forms wine red complex of pH-10
Buffer of NH4OH and NH4Cl is added to maintain pH at
10.
1.

INITIAL REACTION -

M2++EBT

[M-EBT]

(BLUE)

(WINE RED)

M=Ca2+ or Mg2+

2.

TITRATION REACTION

[M-EBT]complex+ EDTA
M2+ + EBT

[M-EBT] complex

( metal ions still present)

3.

(wine- red)

END POINT REACTION

[M-EBT] complex+ EDTA

[M-EDTA]complex +EBT

[M-EDTA]complex+ EBT

WATER

EDTA PROCESS

THEORY

PROCEDURE
I. PREPARATION OF REAGENTS
a) Preparation of standard hard water-Take
1.0 gm of CaCO3 and dissolve in min. amount of HCl.
Evaporate the solution to dryness on a water bath. Make 1L
solution by dissolving residue in
Distilled water. Each ml of this solution will correspond to
1mg of CaCO3 hardness.
b) Preparation

of EDTA solution- Dissolve 3.72

gm of pure EDTA crystals +0.1g MgCl2 in 1L distilled

water.(MgCl2 binds to EDTA quicker forming M-EDTA
complex which is less stable than Ca- EDTA complex)
c) Preparation

of indicator- Dissolve 0.5g of EBT in

100ml of alcohol.
d) Preparation

of buffer solution- Add 67.5g of

NH4Cl to 570ml of conc. ammonia solution and then dilute

with distilled water to 1L

WATER

EDTA PROCESS

THEORY

II. PROCEDURE
a) Standardization of EDTA solution- In conical
flask, pipette out 50ml of SHW and add 10-15ml of buffer
solution and 4-5 drops indicator. Titrate with EDTA till wine
color changes to clear blue. Let volume used be V1 ml.
b) Titration

of unknown hard water- Titrate water

sample similar to earlier step. Let volume used be V2 ml.

c) Titration

of permanent hardness-

In a large

beaker take 250 ml of water sample and boil it till 50ml

volume is reached (carbonates decomposed to insoluble
CaCO3+Mg(OH)2).Filter and wash precipitate with distilled
water and all filtrate and washings being collected in 250ml
flask. Then titrate as in previous step. Let volume used be
V3 ml.

WATER

EDTA PROCESS

THEORY

III. CALCULATIONS
a) Total hardness
50ml of SHW =V1 ml EDTA
Hence 50 *1mg of CaCO3 =V1 ml of EDTA
1ml of EDTA=50/V1 mg of CaCO3
Now 50ml of hard water=V2 ml of EDTA
= V2*50/V1 mg of CaCO3 eq
1ml of given hard water = V2/ V1 mg of CaCO3 eq
1000ml of given hard water=1000* V2/ V1 mg of CaCO3 eq/L
Total hardness=1000* V2/ V1 ppm

b)

Permanent Hardness

Now, 50ml of boiled water=V3 ml of EDTA

V3*50/V1 mg of CaCO3 eq
1000ml of boiled water=1000* V3/V1 mg of CaCO3 eq/L
Hence permanent hardness=1000* V3/V1 mg of CaCO3 ppm

c)

Temporary Hardness

=TOTAL

HARDNESS- PERMANENT HARDNESS

=1000*(V2-V3)/V1 ppm.

ADVANTAGES OF EDTA METHOD:

Great accuracy
Convenience
More rapid procedure

WATER

EDTA PROCESS

THEORY