How Hard Water can be Softened (II)
| BOILED WATER A | WATER WITH WASHING SODA B | DISTILLED WATER C | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any scum? | Number of liquid soap drops used | Any scum? | Number of liquid soap drops used | Any scum? | Number of liquid soap drops used |
| . | . | . | . | . | . |
With the activity above, you should observe that the various samples needed fewer drops of liquid soap to leather than the sea water in the previous activity.
The distilled water C will require less liquid soap to lather compared to the Boiled water (A) and the water with washing soda (B).
There are other ways of softening hard water apart from the activity performed above (Calcium hydroxide), by deionization.
Deionization is the process of removing the ions from the hard water. We already spoke about the dissolved minerals in the hard water.
We said they are Iron, Magnesium and Calcium ions (Fe2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+).
Deionization is the process of removing all these ions from the water. We also said that, soft water has very little or no dissolved minerals.