Anne Beatrice S. Cuadra, Ma. Charlene S. Jereos (March 2013)
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PSHS WVC), Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines
ABSTRACT
Water hardness is a prevalent unwanted physical characteristic in water such as scales forming in water pipes, which cause precipitates to form yellow rings on the edges of the bathroom and kitchen fixtures. It also causes water to taste and smell foul and for soap not to produce lather well. Water harness is caused by the excessive amounts of calcium and magnesium ions in the water. A previous study determined that incorporating sulfuric acid and polystyrene or Styrofoam, forming sulfonated polystyrene being used as a resin. When hardness in water is being reduced, this is called softening. This study aimed to determine the water hardness before and after filtration using sulfonated polystyrene subjected to various conditions. The various conditions are the following; temperature of sulfonation ( 40°C, 60°C, 80°C, 100°C), time of sulfonation (1, 2, 3, 4 hours), and concentration of sulfuric acid ( 40%, 60%, 80%, 100%). Each combination of each condition was performed. There was a total of 64 set ups. The results show that the sulfonated polystyrene significantly increased the hardness of water. This was due to the circumstance that normalization of the resin with NaOH was not performed.