ABSTRACT

This experiment was carried out in order to determine the amount of dissolve
oxygen (DO) in the water sample. We used tap water as our sample water. We used
Azide Modification technique of Winkler method and titrated the sample water solution
with sodium thiosulphate (Na2S2O3) to determine the amount of dissolve oxygen in the
sample water. As a result, for the sample water for 300 mL of BOD bottle that have
taken by our group has the amount of dissolve oxygen of 8.3 mg DO/L which is below
10mg/L. This result shows that the tap water is unpolluted water and can be used for
drinking and suitable for us to use in daily activities.
INTRODUCTION

Water (H2O) is the most abundant compound on earth’s surface, covering about 70
percent of the planet. Water molecule is composed of two hydrogen atoms bonded to a
central oxygen atom. Water is a very unique substance. It has several usual and unusual
properties. In nature, water exists in liquid, solid and gaseous states. It is a dynamic
equilibrium between the liquid and gas states at standard temperature and pressure. At
room temperature, it is a tasteless, odorless and colorless liquid. Water is referred as
universal solvent as many substances dissolves in it.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is the amount of oxygen that is present in the water. It is
measured in milligrams per liter (mg/L), or the number of milligrams of oxygen
dissolved in a liter of water. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is important because just as we
need air to breathe, aquatic organisms need dissolved oxygen to respire. It is necessary
for the survival of fish, invertebrates, bacteria and underwater plants. DO is also needed
for the decomposition of organic matter. There is many ways oxygen can get into water.
It can be from simple diffusion of oxygen from atmosphere into water surfaces or by
algae and other aquatic plants during photosynthesis.

Temperature has a significant impact on the solubility of oxygen in water.

Increasing the temperature will normally decrease the DO concentration in water. It is
important to distinguish between oxygen solubility, which is the maximum DO
concentration at equilibrium and the actual concentration of DO, which is generally not
the equilibrium concentration and is limited by the rate at which oxygen dissolves.
Water saturated with oxygen at 250C contains 8.4mg/L.

OBJECTIVE

1. Determine the amount of dissolve oxygen (DO) in the water sample.

THEORY

Winkler test is used in this experiment in order to measure the concentration of

dissolved oxygen (DO) in a water sample. In this method, excess manganese (II)
sulphate will react with the alkali-iodide azide reagent that is an iodide ion (I -) and
potassium hydroxide ion (OH -) ion in water to form a white precipitate Mn(OH)2.
Alkali-iodide azide also composed of NaN2 that is an alkali azide compound that will
eliminate the nitrile interference that can interfere the reaction of reducing or oxidizing
substances in this test.

If oxygen is present inside the water, the Mn(OH)2 will react further to form an
orange – brown precipitate, manganese oxide (MnO(OH)2) but if the oxygen is not
present inside the water sample, the color of the white precipitate will remain
unchanged.

Sulfamic acid powder pillow, H3NSO3 is added, which dissolves manganic oxide
and in together with potassium iodide, KI added earlier, forms iodine (I2) that had given
the orange color to the sample:

The quantity of iodine is measured by titrating with the sodium thiosulphate

(Na2S2O3) until the orange color the I2 becomes pale straw color.

Starch is added near the end of the titration to measure if there is any unreacted
iodine, I2 in the solution as the starch will give a dark blue color in the presence of I2 and
gives a more obvious color of endpoint for the test. Then, it is titrated again with sodium
thiosulphate solution until the color of the solution becomes colorless.

The available quantity of MnO(OH)2 formed in the first step is directly

proportional to the dissolved oxygen, and the amount of iodine formed in the second
step is directly proportional to the MnO(OH)2. So, the titration of sodium thiosulphate
solution measures a quantity of iodine directly related to the original dissolved oxygen
concentration.