EXPERIMENT: - STERILIZATION OF WATER USING
BLEACHING POWDER
THEORY: -
Bleaching powder or Calcium hypochlorite is a chemical compound with the formula Ca(ClO)
2. It is widely used for water treatment and as a bleaching agent bleaching powder). This chemical is
considered to be relatively stable and has greater available chlorine than sodium hypochlorite (liquid
bleach). It is prepared by either the calcium process or the sodium process.
Calcium Process
2 Ca(OH)2 + 2 Cl2 → Ca(ClO)2 + CaCl2 + 2 H2O
Sodium Process
2 Ca(OH)2 + 3 Cl2 + 2 NaOH → Ca(ClO)2 + CaCl2 + 2 H2O + 2 NaCl
But how can this chemical be used to sterilize water?
This chemical can be used for sterilizing water by Using 5 drops of bleach per half gallon of water to
be purified and allowing it to sit undisturbed for half an hour to make it safe for drinking. Letting it sit
several hours more will help reduce the chlorine taste, as the chlorine will slowly evaporate out. A
different reference advises when using household bleach for purification; add a single drop of bleach
per quart of water which is visibly clear, or three drops per quart of water where the water is NOT
visibly clear. Then allow the water to sit undisturbed for half an hour.
What are the actual processes involved in disinfecting and purifying water?
The combination of following processes is used for municipal drinking water treatment worldwide:
1. Pre-chlorination - for algae control and arresting any biological growth 2. Aeration - along with
pre-chlorination for removal of dissolved iron and manganese 3. Coagulation - for flocculation 4.
Coagulant aids also known as polyelectrolyte’s - to improve coagulation and for thicker floc
formation 5. Sedimentation - for solids separation, that is, removal of suspended solids trapped in
the floc 6. Filtration - for removal of carried over floc 7. Disinfection - for killing bacteria Out of these
processes, the role of Bleaching powder is only in the last step i.e. for Disinfection of water.
Aim: To Determine the dosage of bleaching powder required for sterilization or disinfection of
different samples of water.
Requirements:
Burette,
titration flask,
100ml graduated cylinder,
250ml measuring flask,
weight box,
glazed tile,
glass wool.
Bleaching Powder,
Glass wool
, 0.1 N Na2S2O3 solution,
10% KI solution,
different samples of water,
and starch solution.
Pre-Requisite Knowledge:
1. A known mass of the given sample of bleaching powder is dissolved in water to prepare a solution
of known concentration. This solution contains dissolved chlorine, liberated by the action of
bleaching powder with water. CaOCl2+H20 Ca(OH)2+Cl2
2. The amount of Chlorine present in the above solution is determined by treating a known volume
of the above solution with excess of 10% potassium iodide solution when an equivalent amount of
Iodine is liberated. The Iodine, thus liberated is then estimated by titrating it against a standard
solution of Sodium thiosulphate, using starch solution as an indicator.
3. A known Volume of one of the given samples of water is treated with a known volume of
bleaching powder solution. The amount of residual chlorine is determined by adding excess
potassium iodide solution and then titrating against standard sodium thiosulphate solution.
4. From the readings in 2 and 3, the amount of chlorine and hence bleaching powder required for
the disinfection of a given volume of the given sample of water can be calculated.
Procedure –
The following procedure should be adopted for preparation of stock solution of the Bleaching
Powder solution with requisite Chlorine concentration, for eventual necessary dilution to get
appropriate chlorine concentration in the disinfecting water.
(1) Let us take 50 litre of clean water in a plastic drum
(2) For Bleaching Powder (with 30% available chlorine), let us add requisite quantity of
Bleaching Powder ( for solution concentration with 0.5% chlorine, let us add 17.5 Kg @ 0.35
Kg per litre and for solution concentration with 0.05% chlorine, let us add 1.75 Kg @ 0.035
Kg per litre)
(3) Let us adopt stirring for approximately 10 minutes
(4) After that, let the solution in the drum rest for another 10 minutes.
(5) Then placing the cotton cloth in two folds over the other drum, let the solution prepared as
above be strained to get solid left outs removed
(6) ) Thus the necessary stock solution is ready and let it be stored in the storage tank. Such
storage tank should be placed in shade and covered, till it is used.
(7) At the time of using this stock solution, the required quantity from this storage tank should
be pumped out to the container / tanker, to be used for disinfecting purpose through
sprayer.
(8) ) In any case of large scale use, if the requirement of stock solution is more than 200 litre,
then additional storage tank should be used.
REACTION: - Cl2+2KI 2KCl+I2 I2+2Na2S2O3 Na2S4O6+2NaI
RESULT
Amount of the given sample of bleaching powder required to disinfect one litre of water
Sample I = ………g
Sample II= ………g
Sample III= ………g
