7/1/2015 Lab11:Color

Lab11:
Color

ReadingAssignment
Readpages8789inSimplifiedProceduresforWaterExamination.

IntroductiontoColor
WhatCausesColor?
Colorinwateristheresultofdissolvedextractsfrommetalsinrocksandsoil,fromorganicmatterinsoilandplants,and
occasionallyfromindustrialbyproducts.Whencoloriscausedbymetals,itisusuallyduetoiron,copper,ormanganeseions
inthewater.Leavesandpeatmayaddtannin,glucosides,andtheirderivativestothewater,resultinginayelloworbrown
hue.Industriescanaddavarietyofchemicalswithvariouscolors.

Inwaterandwastewatertreatment,wemakeadistinctionbetweentruecolorandapparentcolor.Truecoloristheresultof
dissolvedorganics,minerals,orchemicalsinwater,asnotedabove.Whentestingthecolorofawatersample,thegoalisto
measurethetruecolorofthewater.However,suspendedmaterialsinthewater(turbidity)canchangetheapparentcolorof
thewater(thecolorofthewaterbeforefiltration.)Asaresult,thefirststepofmeasuringtruecoloristoremovethewater's
turbiditybyfiltrationorcentrifugation.

YoushouldalsobeawarethatchangesinpHcanchangethetruecolorofwater.Asaresult,pHisalwaysmeasuredalongwith
colorduringcolortesting.

MeasuringColor
Twotypesofprocedurescanbeusedtomeasurethecolorinwaterthevisualmethodortheinstrumentalmethod.Thevisual
methodisthesimplestsinceitconsistsofawatersamplebeingcomparedtoaseriesofcoloredslidesortubes.Thismethod
canbeusedinmostcases,butitisnotappropriateforuseonwaterwhichhasbeencontaminatedbyindustrialwastes.Various
instrumentalmethodscanbeusedtocreateamoreaccurateportrayalofthewater'scolorifthecolorcannotbematchedusing
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thevisualmethod.

Thevisualmethod

Whenusingthevisualmethod,colorisusuallymeasuredincolorunits.Waterwithcolorashighas20unitswillnotordinarily
benoticedbytheconsumer,butthewaterplantshouldbeoperatedsothatthecolorwillbelessthan20units.TheEPA
DrinkingWaterStandardslimitforcolor,asrelatedtofilteredwater,is15units.

TreatingColor
Colorinwaterisnearlyalwaysharmless.However,foraestheticreasons,colorinwatershouldbemaintainedatan
unnoticeablelevel.Aplantwillhavelittledifficultyinproducinganeffluentwithcolorof10unitsorlesssincecoagulation
followedbychlorinationorozonationtendstoremovethemajorityofthecolorfromwater.

LabProcedures
Introduction
Foranycolortestingmethod,thefirststepwillbetoremoveturbidity,sowewilldescribethisprocedurefirst.Thenwewill
brieflyintroducetwodifferentvisualmethodsandoneinstrumentalmethodusedformeasuringcolor.Allofthesemethodsare
treatedinmuchgreaterdepthinStandardMethods.

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RemovingTurbidity
Beforetestingforcolor,youmustremovetheturbidityfromthewater.Removalofsuspendedmatterbycentrifuginghasbeen
foundtogivethebestresults.Althoughfiltrationwillremovesuspendedmatter,italsotendstochangethetruecolorofthe
water.

Youcanreadmoreaboutremovingturbiditybycentrifugeinsection2120C.3.a.onpage24inyourtext.Thevirtuallab
demonstratestheremovalofturbiditybyfiltration.

ThePlatinumCobaltMethod
ThestandardmethodusedformeasuringcolorisavisualmethodknownasthePlatinumCobaltMethodwhichisdescribed
insection2120B.ofStandardMethods.InthePlatinumCobaltmethod,colorismeasuredbycomparisonofthesampleto
standardspreparedwithvariousconcentrationsofpotassiumchloroplatinateandcobaltouschloride.Boththesampletubeand
thestandardsareviewedagainstawhitebackgroundandthestandardtubeclosestincolortothesampleischosen.

ComparisonwithGlassDiscs
ThePlatinumCobaltmethodisnotwelladaptedforfieldwork,sowaterissometimestestedbycomparingthesampletoglass
discs.Thesediscsareproducedbyvariouslaboratorysupplycompaniesinaseriesofhues,calibratedtocorrespondtocolors
ontheplatinumscale.ExperiencehasshownthattheglassdiscsusedbytheU.S.GeologicalSurveygiveresultinsubstantial
agreementwiththoseobtainedbyplatinumdeterminations,andtheiruseisrecognizedasastandardprocedure.

Whenusingthismethod,theglassdiscsareheldattheendofmetallictubes.Theoperatorviewsthediscsthroughthetubes
whilelookingtowardawhitesurface.Thediscwhichmostcloselymatchesthecolorofthesamplegivesthenumberofcolor
unitsfoundinthesamplewater.

InstrumentalMethods
StandardMethodsexplainstheprocedureusedforavarietyofinstrumentalmethodsofcolordetermination.Youshouldview
thevirtuallabtofamiliarizeyourselfwiththisprocedure.Noticethattheoperatortreatsthewaterbyfiltrationtoremove
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turbidity,thenusesaninstrumenttoreadtheamountoftruecolorremaininginthewater.

Sources
AmericanPublicHealthAssociation,AmericanWaterWorksAssociation,andWaterEnvironmentFederation.1998.
StandardMethodsfortheExaminationofWaterandWastewater.AmericanPublicHealthAssociation,Washington,D.C.

Kerri,K.D.2002.WaterTreatmentPlantOperation.CaliforniaStateUniversity:Sacramento.

LabAssignment
Youshouldnowbereadytoperformoneofthemethodsofcolortestingoutlinedinyourlabmanual.Thisisaneasylabwhich
shouldnottakemuchtime,soyoumaydecidetoperformboththislabandthenextduringthesametriptoyourtreatment
plant.

Beforeyoubegineitherexercise,besurethatyoulocateallofthesafetyequipment.

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