A desalination plant produces 200 gigalitres (GL) of fresh water each year - VCE - SSCE Chemistry - Question 14 - 2012 - Paper 1
Question 14
A desalination plant produces 200 gigalitres (GL) of fresh water each year. The maximum level of boron permitted in desalinated water is 0.5 ppm (0.5 mg L<sup>-1</su... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A desalination plant produces 200 gigalitres (GL) of fresh water each year - VCE - SSCE Chemistry - Question 14 - 2012 - Paper 1
Step 1
Calculate the total volume of water in liters
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Answer
Since 1 gigalitre is equal to 1 billion liters (1 GL = 10<sup>9</sup> L), the total volume of water produced in one year by the desalination plant is:
200extGL=200imes109extL=2.0imes1011extL
Step 2
Determine the maximum boron concentration
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Answer
The maximum permitted level of boron in the desalinated water is 0.5 mg L<sup>-1</sup>. This means that for every liter of water, there can be a maximum of 0.5 mg of boron.
Step 3
Calculate the total mass of boron
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Answer
To find the total mass of boron allowed in the entire volume of desalinated water, we can use the formula:
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Answer
From the calculations above, the maximum mass of boron permitted in one year production of desalinated water is 1.0 x 10<sup>5</sup> kg, which corresponds to option B.