Blue Color in Purified Water

Jeffrey W Clymer

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Apr 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/22/97

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When we fill a 5-gallon white plastic bucket with our purified water we
see a slight blue tint.

I've measured the copper concentration in the water, and it is at least
below 0.1 mg/l.

Could copper still be responsible for the color at this low level?

Any other ideas on what could be causing the blue color?

Thanks,
Jeff

Peter Treybal

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Apr 23, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/23/97

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Water IS blue. In fact, one of the most beautiful blue tints I've ever
seen is that of winter sunlight transmitted through ice. Your nice white
five gallon pail holds enough water to nicely show the blueness of the
liquid.

Peter

d4user

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Apr 23, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/23/97

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Rick Fletcher wrote:
>
> Peter Treybal (ptre...@together.net) wrote:
> : Water IS blue. In fact, one of the most beautiful blue tints I've ever

> : seen is that of winter sunlight transmitted through ice. Your nice white
> : five gallon pail holds enough water to nicely show the blueness of the
> : liquid.
>

> Ain't that the truth. Driving or hiking through the mountains in winter
> is a treat in itself, made even better by that super blue color one can
> see in small ice caves that form on side hills. Great stuff. The number
> of wonderful things in the world can decrease with age and experience, but
> some things remain. Natural color is among that select group.
> --
> Rick

Hey Rick,
it's true that water is Blue. But a) natral Water (glaciers) contains lots of different
Ions and b) it is definitely not enough pathlength for light to be scattered, what causes this phenomenon.

Cheers
Piotr

John Spevacek

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Apr 23, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/23/97

to d4user

The phenomenon is prescibed to lattice virbations. The hydrogen bonds
stiffen the structure over a large enough scale to allow for absorbance
of the long (red) wavelengths.

John
--
A desk is a terrible spot from which to view the world.

Opinions expressed herein are my own and may not represent those of my employer.

Rick Fletcher

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Apr 23, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/23/97

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Peter Treybal (ptre...@together.net) wrote:
: Water IS blue. In fact, one of the most beautiful blue tints I've ever
: seen is that of winter sunlight transmitted through ice. Your nice white
: five gallon pail holds enough water to nicely show the blueness of the
: liquid.

Ain't that the truth. Driving or hiking through the mountains in winter
is a treat in itself, made even better by that super blue color one can
see in small ice caves that form on side hills. Great stuff. The number
of wonderful things in the world can decrease with age and experience, but
some things remain. Natural color is among that select group.
--
Rick

John Spevacek

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Apr 23, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/23/97

to

Rick Fletcher wrote:
>
> Peter Treybal (ptre...@together.net) wrote:
> : Water IS blue. In fact, one of the most beautiful blue tints I've ever
> : seen is that of winter sunlight transmitted through ice. Your nice white
> : five gallon pail holds enough water to nicely show the blueness of the
> : liquid.
>
> Ain't that the truth. Driving or hiking through the mountains in winter
> is a treat in itself, made even better by that super blue color one can
> see in small ice caves that form on side hills. Great stuff. The number
> of wonderful things in the world can decrease with age and experience, but
> some things remain. Natural color is among that select group.

Amen to that. I just finished a fascinating book, "The Physics and
Chemistry of Color; The 15 Causes of Color" by Kurt Nassau. It is simply
incredible the varied sources of color in the world, in some cases
arising from very small impurities.

Peter Treybal

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Apr 24, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/24/97

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Phew! Lots of nice comments, and even Al didn't dump on me. Life is good!

M J Pitt

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Apr 24, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/24/97

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In article <335D36...@one.net>, jwcl...@one.net says...

>
>When we fill a 5-gallon white plastic bucket with our purified water we
>see a slight blue tint.
>
>I've measured the copper concentration in the water, and it is at least
>below 0.1 mg/l.
>
>Could copper still be responsible for the color at this low level?
>
>Any other ideas on what could be causing the blue color?

Despite the responses on the beauty of nature, I think you may have a problem.
Fill the bucket with water from other sources. If it still looks blue then it
is the bucket (either a blue tinge or fluorescence from the plastic).
If it is only your purified water (and perhaps its source) then it is in the
water. Tetrammine copper gives a blue tint visible at very low levels: it
comes from copper (in the main water supply) and bleeding of ammonia from an
ion-exchange resin. Try adding a drop of ammonia to your main water supply to
see if you get a similar effect. Conversely, try adding a drop of copper
sulfate to the purified water to see if the blueness increases by a large
amount.
Look out for corrosion due to mixed metals joined together (e.g. stainless
steel to copper fitting) in your piping.

Martin Pitt
University of Sheffield

JoshuaHalpern

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Apr 24, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/24/97

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Uncle Al Schwartz <unc...@uvic.ca> wrote:
:
: Jeffrey W Clymer wrote:
: > When we fill a 5-gallon white plastic bucket with our purified water we

: > see a slight blue tint.

: > Could copper still be responsible for the color at this low level?

: The white bucket contains a blue pigment to compensate for
: yellowing of the plastic and its additives.

: Put a sample in a cell and look at it in a spectrophotometer.
: Instrumentaion (properly calibrated and baselined) does not tell
: fibs.

Yeah, but at absorbances of less than 0.001 and above about
three, it doesn't even know what the question is.

Josh Halpern

Uncle Al Schwartz

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Apr 24, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/24/97

to Jeffrey W Clymer

Jeffrey W Clymer wrote:
>
> When we fill a 5-gallon white plastic bucket with our purified water we
> see a slight blue tint.
>

> I've measured the copper concentration in the water, and it is at least
> below 0.1 mg/l.
>

> Could copper still be responsible for the color at this low level?
>

> Any other ideas on what could be causing the blue color?

The white bucket contains a blue pigment to compensate for

yellowing of the plastic and its additives.

Put a sample in a cell and look at it in a spectrophotometer.
Instrumentaion (properly calibrated and baselined) does not tell
fibs.

--
Alan "Uncle Al" Schwartz
Uncl...@ix.netcom.com ("zero" before @)
unc...@uvic.ca (summer only, cAsE-sensitive!)
http://www.ultra.net.au/~wisby/uncleal.htm
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children, Democrats, and most mammals)
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" The Net!

Ted Mooney

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Apr 24, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/24/97

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jwcl...@one.net says...

> >
> >When we fill a 5-gallon white plastic bucket with our purified water we
> >see a slight blue tint.
> >
> >I've measured the copper concentration in the water, and it is at least
> >below 0.1 mg/l.
> >
> >Could copper still be responsible for the color at this low level?
> >
> >Any other ideas on what could be causing the blue color?

One possible cause of blueness that I am reluctant to even mention,
considering that this is purified water, is the prussian blue color of
ferrocyanide.

-- Ted Mooney