Let us now consider what calcium bicarbonate is and how it is formed. It is a compound of calcium carbonate and carbonic acid, and is formed by the solvent action of carbonic acid on limestone or chalk. The compound is soluble in water; but when the solution is boiled, the carbonic acid is broken up, carbonic acid gas is expelled from the solution, and calcium carbonate is formed.
Temporary hardness is the more troublesome. In the first place, the bicarbonates, especially that of calcium, often form the greater part of the dissolved impurity. Moreover, when the water is boiled, although the hardness is removed, the insoluble calcium carbonate is a source of trouble, for it gradually settles down into the hard mass known as “fur” in kettles and “scale” in boilers.
It is perhaps necessary at this point to emphasize the fact that matter suspended in water does not make it hard, and it is only matter which is dissolved which makes any difference in this respect.
Since the softening of temporary hard water by boiling has the undesirable feature of introducing solid matter into the boiler, it is customary now to treat this water chemically. The following is the process most generally used. Quicklime or slaked lime is stirred into the water until the mixture gives a faint brown coloration when a drop of silver nitrate is added to a small test portion. Unsoftened water is then added until a sample just ceases to give this test. The temporary hardness has then been removed, and it is only necessary to allow the suspended matter to settle.
The explanation of the method is as follows. The lime which is added neutralizes the carbonic acid combined with the calcium bicarbonate, and the result is the same as in the former case where this carbonic acid was decomposed by heating, for calcium carbonate is thrown out of solution.
For domestic purposes, water is softened by the addition of washing soda. Since this reacts with all the calcium and magnesium compounds forming the insoluble carbonates, all hardness, both temporary and permanent, is removed.
CHAPTER VI
PHOSPHORIC, BORIC, AND SILICIC ACIDS
The acids which are grouped in this chapter are not in themselves of much interest, though some of their salts are extremely important compounds.
Bone. Much of the refuse bone, sooner or later, reaches the marine store, and from that point starts on a career of usefulness in the industrial world.
“Green bone,” as it is then called, may have fat adhering to it or confined in its hollow interior as marrow. This is recovered by treatment with benzine, and after that the bone is subjected to the action of superheated steam in order to convert cartilage into glue. In some cases, the residue is then ground up to make bone meal, which is valuable as a manure because of the calcium phosphate which it contains. In this way, the phosphate returns again to the animal kingdom, for it supplies plants with the phosphates that they require, and from the vegetable kingdom it passes to animals and helps to build up bone again.