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Sulfur water (or sulphur water) is a condition where water is exposed to hydrogen sulfide gas, giving a distinct "rotten egg" smell. This condition has different purposes in culture varying to health and implications to plumbing.
Sulfur water is made out of dissolved minerals that contain sulfate. These include baryte (BaSO4), epsomite (MgSO4 7H2O) and gypsum (CaSO42H20). [1] It is reported that a notable change in taste to the water is found differently to the type of sulfate affecting the water. For sodium sulfate, 250 to 500 mg/litre, with calcium sulfate at 250 to 1000 mg/litre and magnesium sulfate at 400 to 600 mg/litre. A study by Zoeteman found that having 270 mg of calcium sulfate and 90 mg of magnesium sulfate actually had improved the taste of the water.
Bathing in water high in sulfur or other minerals for its presumed health benefits is known as balneotherapy. These are said to give a person bathing in the waters "ageless beauty" and relief from aches and pains. [2]
While humans have been able to adapt to higher levels of concentrations with time, some effects of ingestion of sulfur water has found to have cathartic effects on people consuming water with sulfate concentrations of 600 mg/litre according to a study from the US Department of health in 1962. Some adverse effects that have been found include dehydration, with excess amounts of sodium or magnesium sulfate in a person's diet according to a study in 1980, with some populations, such as children and elderly people, being seen as higher risk.
A survey was done in North Dakota US to better derive whether there was direct causation of a laxative effect from having sulfur in drinking water. [3]
| Sulfate concentrate in drinking water | Percentage of people who reported a laxative effect |
|---|---|
| <500 mg of sulfate per litre | 21% |
| 500–1000 mg of sulfate per litre | 28% |
| 1000–1500 mg per litre | 68% |
From this data, it was concluded that water containing more than 750 mg of sulfate per litre was due to a laxative effect, and below 600 was not. [4]
According to The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drinking water with high levels of sulfate can cause diarrhea, especially in infants. [5]
At the University of Wyoming in America, sulfur water was studied to see the effects it can have upon the performance of steers that are on a forage-based diet. Due to sulfur being a requirement to living things, as it contains essential amino acids that are used to create proteins, sulfur water, which is commonly found in Western States of America, is a major contributor to sulfur in the herds diet. However, with a herd drinking high concentrate of sulfur water, ruminants may contract sulfur induced polioencephalomalacia (sPEM), which is a neurological disorder. Because of this finding, the study tries to reach the goal of finding a dietary supplement which can be used to counteract the negative health effects on the steers.
To reduce the extra sulfur in the ruminant's diet, ruminal bacteria break the excess down, resulting in Hydrogen Sulfide, which is soluble in water, but as temperature increases, the solubility decreases, which leads to the hydrogen sulfide gas being reinhaled by the animal, causing sulfur induced polioencephalomalacia. The study attempted to resolve this issue by introducing clinoptilolite to the diet of the herd, but has found inconclusive evidence which requires more study of clinoptilolite effects on methanogenesis and biohydrogenation.
There is also believed to be great health benefits within sulfur water, with sulfur water springs being a common thing within many cultures. Such springs can be found in many countries such as New Zealand, Japan and Greece. These sulfur springs are often created due to the local volcanic activity which contributes to heating up nearby water systems. This is due to volcanoes exhaling water vapour heavily encased in metals, with sulfur dioxide being one of them.
In New Zealand, the North Island was brought to fame in the 1800s, with its baths heated naturally from a volcano near the town of Rotorua. There are 28 spa hot pools which visitors can soak themselves, along with sulfur mud baths.
Another famous spring is the spring in Greece, Thermopylae, which means "hot springs" derives its name from its springs, as it was believed to be the entrance to Hades. [6]
The condition indicates a high level of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the water supply. This may be due to the use of well water, poorly treated city water, or water heater contamination.
Various methods exist to treat sulfur in water. These methods include
The Global Environment Monitoring System for Freshwater (GEMS/Water) has said that typical fresh water holds about 20 mg/litre of sulfur, and can range from 0 to 630 mg/litre in rivers, 2 to 250 mg/litre in lakes and 0 to 230 mg/litre in groundwater.[ citation needed ]
Canada's rain has been found to have sulfate concentrations of 1.0 and 3.8 mg/L in 1980, found in a study by Franklin published in 1985. [7] Western Canada in rivers ranged from 1 to 3040 mg/litre, with most concentrations below 580 mg/litre according to results from Environment Canada in 1984. Central Canada had levels that were also high in Saskatchewan, there were median levels of 368 mg/litre in drinking water from ground water supplies, and 97 mg/litre in surface water supplies, with a range of 32170 mg/litre.
A study conducted in Canada [8] found that a treatment to reduce sulfur in drinking water had actually increased it. This was conducted in Ontario, which had a mean sulfur level of 12.5 mg/litre when untreated, and 22.5 mg/litre after the treatment.
The Netherlands has had below 150 mg/litre concentrations of sulfur water in their underground water supplies. 65% of water treatment plants reported that the sulfur level of drinking water was below 25 mg/litre, as found in a study by Dijk-Looijaard & Fonds in 1985. [9]
The US had the Public Health Service in 1970 to measure levels of sulfate in drinking water sources in nine different geographic areas. The results concluded that all of the 106 surface water supplies that were sampled had sulfate present, as well as 645 of 658 ground water deposits that were tested. The levels of sulfur that was found ranged from less than 1 mg/litre to 770.
Due to sulfates being used in industrial products, they are often discharged into water supplies in the environment. This includes mines, textile mills and other industrial processes that involve using sulfates. Sulfates, such as magnesium, potassium and sodium are all highly soluble in water, which is what creates sulfur water, while other sulfates which are metal based, such as calcium and barium are less soluble. Atmospheric sulfur dioxide, also can infect surface water, and sulfur trioxide can combine with water vapour in the air, and create sulfur water rain, or what is colloquially known as acid rain. [10]
Sulfur (also spelled sulphur in British English) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with the chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow, crystalline solid at room temperature.
Sulfur dioxide or sulphur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula SO
2. It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activity and is produced as a by-product of copper extraction and the burning of sulfur-bearing fossil fuels.
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula H2S. It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The underground mine gas term for foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide-rich gas mixtures is stinkdamp. Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele is credited with having discovered the chemical composition of purified hydrogen sulfide in 1777.
Magnesium sulfate or magnesium sulphate (in English-speaking countries other than the US) is a chemical compound, a salt with the formula MgSO4, consisting of magnesium cations Mg2+ (20.19% by mass) and sulfate anions SO2−4. It is a white crystalline solid, soluble in water but not in ethanol.
Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. Sulfide also refers to large families of inorganic and organic compounds, e.g. lead sulfide and dimethyl sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and bisulfide (SH−) are the conjugate acids of sulfide.
Hard water is water that has high mineral content. Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbonates and sulfates.
Magnesium chloride is an inorganic compound with the formula MgCl2. It forms hydrates MgCl2·nH2O, where n can range from 1 to 12. These salts are colorless or white solids that are highly soluble in water. These compounds and their solutions, both of which occur in nature, have a variety of practical uses. Anhydrous magnesium chloride is the principal precursor to magnesium metal, which is produced on a large scale. Hydrated magnesium chloride is the form most readily available.
The purple sulfur bacteria (PSB) are part of a group of Pseudomonadota capable of photosynthesis, collectively referred to as purple bacteria. They are anaerobic or microaerophilic, and are often found in stratified water environments including hot springs, stagnant water bodies, as well as microbial mats in intertidal zones. Unlike plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, purple sulfur bacteria do not use water as their reducing agent, and therefore do not produce oxygen. Instead, they can use sulfur in the form of sulfide, or thiosulfate (as well, some species can use H2, Fe2+, or NO2−) as the electron donor in their photosynthetic pathways. The sulfur is oxidized to produce granules of elemental sulfur. This, in turn, may be oxidized to form sulfuric acid.
Sodium sulfate (also known as sodium sulphate or sulfate of soda) is the inorganic compound with formula Na2SO4 as well as several related hydrates. All forms are white solids that are highly soluble in water. With an annual production of 6 million tonnes, the decahydrate is a major commodity chemical product. It is mainly used as a filler in the manufacture of powdered home laundry detergents and in the Kraft process of paper pulping for making highly alkaline sulfides.
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underground. In this they are unlike sweet springs, which produce soft water with no noticeable dissolved gasses. The dissolved minerals may alter the water's taste. Mineral water obtained from mineral springs, and the precipitated salts such as Epsom salt have long been important commercial products.
Magnesium sulfide is an inorganic compound with the formula MgS. It is a white crystalline material but often is encountered in an impure form that is brown and non-crystalline powder. It is generated industrially in the production of metallic iron.
The sulfur cycle is a biogeochemical cycle in which the sulfur moves between rocks, waterways and living systems. It is important in geology as it affects many minerals and in life because sulfur is an essential element (CHNOPS), being a constituent of many proteins and cofactors, and sulfur compounds can be used as oxidants or reductants in microbial respiration. The global sulfur cycle involves the transformations of sulfur species through different oxidation states, which play an important role in both geological and biological processes. Steps of the sulfur cycle are:
Boiler water is liquid water within a boiler, or in associated piping, pumps and other equipment, that is intended for evaporation into steam. The term may also be applied to raw water intended for use in boilers, treated boiler feedwater, steam condensate being returned to a boiler, or boiler blowdown being removed from a boiler.
Sulfur assimilation is the process by which living organisms incorporate sulfur into their biological molecules. In plants, sulfate is absorbed by the roots and then be transported to the chloroplasts by the transipration stream where the sulfur are reduced to sulfide with the help of a series of enzymatic reactions. Furthermore, the reduced sulfur is incorporated into cysteine, an amino acid that is a precursor to many other sulfur-containing compounds. In animals, sulfur assimilation occurs primarily through the diet, as animals cannot produce sulfur-containing compounds directly. Sulfur is incorporated into amino acids such as cysteine and methionine, which are used to build proteins and other important molecules. Besides, With the rapid development of economy, the increase emission of sulfur results in environmental issues, such as acid rain and hydrogen sulfilde.
Magnesium compounds are compounds formed by the element magnesium (Mg). These compounds are important to industry and biology, including magnesium carbonate, magnesium chloride, magnesium citrate, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium oxide, magnesium sulfate, and magnesium sulfate heptahydrate.
Acid sulfate soils are naturally occurring soils, sediments or organic substrates that are formed under waterlogged conditions. These soils contain iron sulfide minerals and/or their oxidation products. In an undisturbed state below the water table, acid sulfate soils are benign. However, if the soils are drained, excavated or otherwise exposed to air, the sulfides react with oxygen to form sulfuric acid.
Biogenic sulfide corrosion is a bacterially mediated process of forming hydrogen sulfide gas and the subsequent conversion to sulfuric acid that attacks concrete and steel within wastewater environments. The hydrogen sulfide gas is biochemically oxidized in the presence of moisture to form sulfuric acid. The effect of sulfuric acid on concrete and steel surfaces exposed to severe wastewater environments can be devastating. In the USA alone, corrosion is causing sewer asset losses estimated at $14 billion per year. This cost is expected to increase as the aging infrastructure continues to fail.
Evolution of metal ions in biological systems refers to the incorporation of metallic ions into living organisms and how it has changed over time. Metal ions have been associated with biological systems for billions of years, but only in the last century have scientists began to truly appreciate the scale of their influence. Major and minor metal ions have become aligned with living organisms through the interplay of biogeochemical weathering and metabolic pathways involving the products of that weathering. The associated complexes have evolved over time.
Euxinia or euxinic conditions occur when water is both anoxic and sulfidic. This means that there is no oxygen (O2) and a raised level of free hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Euxinic bodies of water are frequently strongly stratified, have an oxic, highly productive, thin surface layer, and have anoxic, sulfidic bottom water. The word euxinia is derived from the Greek name for the Black Sea (Εὔξεινος Πόντος (Euxeinos Pontos)) which translates to "hospitable sea". Euxinic deep water is a key component of the Canfield ocean, a model of oceans during the Proterozoic period (known as the Boring Billion) proposed by Donald Canfield, an American geologist, in 1998. There is still debate within the scientific community on both the duration and frequency of euxinic conditions in the ancient oceans. Euxinia is relatively rare in modern bodies of water, but does still happen in places like the Black Sea and certain fjords.
A beerfault or defect is a flavour deterioration caused by chemical changes of organic compounds in beer, either due to improper production processes or storage. Some chemicals that can cause flavour defects in beer are aldehydes, lipids, and sulfur compounds. Fermentation byproducts can also have a huge impact on the flavour, even by small fluctuations. When the concentration of one or more of these chemicals exceeds the standard threshold, the flavour characteristics change, creating a flavour defect.
