Sacramento Tap Water Lab Report

Sacramento tap water reveals ion concentrations of various different dissolved minerals such as calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+). These concentrations are a result of mineral deposits in local lakes and rivers. Perma Pure, a gas conditioning products manufacturing company, simplifies the mechanism of ion exchange by explaining that water is a solvent that dissolves most ionic bonds when exposed to compounds ("The Mechanism of Ion Exchange"). Therefore, as tap water passes through rocks it will pick up several different minerals resulting in hard water. As reported by the USGS water science school, calcium carbonate concentrations from 0 to 60 parts per million (ppm) are considered soft, while 61 to 120 ppm is medium, and anything past 121 ppm is classified as hard water (Perlman). In this experiment, a sample of Sacramento tap water was tested for its ion concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, chloride (Cl-), nitrate (NO3-), and sulfate (SO42-), which will give insight on potential negative and positive effects of using the tap water. If the concentrations of
In IC, the analyte is injected into the eluent, which then passes through a column and separates ions between a stationary and mobile phase (Harris & Lucy, chap. 26). Depending on how well the anions stick to the column will determine the retention order of the element. Since the anions that are smaller in size and have higher negative charges will stick to the stationary phase the best, the first peak visible will be Cl-, then NO3-, and lastly SO42-. Unlike the AAS method describe above, the IC tap water sample was not diluted prior to running the sample. Once the sample was analyzed and all three peaks of the elements were found. A one point calibration curve was made from the results of the instructor’s standard by plotting peak area against concentration, which was lastly used to determine the concentration of each