Water Softener

“Hard” water, the water containing high quantity of calcium and magnesium, causes many problems.

The most common of them surely is the scale deposits along the surface of boilers, heater exchangers, laundry machines, etc. The scale inhibits the correct thermal exchange, since it is a very good thermal insulator (the thermal conductivity of the scale is approx 1/100 of the one of the iron). The scale makes also difficult the flowing of water along the pipes, since it reduces the size of them, can cause the block of valves, mixers, can make the corrosion easier. Besides, hardness of water can have a reaction with chemicals in many chemical industrial processes.

It must also be noted that utilization of hard water for washing makes rough and coarse the clothing and the hair, makes dry the skin because the scale can clog the pores, makes different the taste of meals and drinks. Besides, it is required to use larger quantity of soaps and detergents for washing and laundry machines.

For this last point, it can be underlined that the utilization of soft water allows a sensible reduction in the quantity of detergent used and therefore a shorter quantity of waste, as a sure advantage for environmental protection.

Wherever the hard water can cause problems, the utilization of soft water can be recommended.

Softening process:

When water containing calcium and magnesium flow across the resins in sodium form, they are exchanged with sodium which is released in water. This is the purpose of the softening process: the calcium and magnesium (their carbonates cause scale) are replaced with sodium, where the sodium carbonate is perfectly soluble. Naturally, sooner or later, the resins will not be able to replace calcium and magnesium, since there will not be any more (or a very little quantity) ions of sodium available for exchange.

These resins, without any sodium ions, is exhausted, and it is required to re-built the original sodium form to start the exchange process of softening again. It is required a regeneration of the resins.The regeneration simply means that some water, with a very high concentration of sodium ions, flows through the resins and exchanges back sodium against calcium and magnesium, released in water.The regeneration water is a solution of sodium chloride (common kitchen salt); it flows through the resins and is carried to drain with addiction of calcium and magnesium released from resins.