It can be easy to give the importance of water a miss. But, water is such an important tool in our everyday lives that we cannot imagine a day sans water. But, sometimes we wonder, why the dishes we washed, get covered with spots after drying? Or what causes clogging up of the plumbing system? This is caused by the hardness in water, which requires to be softened for desirable results. What is softening of water and how does a water softener work? For this, we first need to discuss what is hard water and soft water.
Water with substantial quantities of dissolved minerals and salt is known as hard water. It is not suitable for domestic use, like for cooking, washing clothes, etc. This is because the dissolved calcium and magnesium salts can have adverse effect on efficiency of household appliances as a result of the salt clogging up pipes and water heating equipment. The mineral content in hard water also hinders the working of soaps and detergents by reacting with them to for a sticky scum and nullifies their effect. It is therefore, necessary to soften the water to make it more usable. Water softeners are appliances that reduce the salt and mineral contents in the hard water thereby making it soft. But, how does a water softener work? Let us discuss it now.
Working of Water Softener
While water is flowing, it dissolves soluble bits of the surface it passes over. Although this can include contamination which makes water unsuitable for consumption, in most cases it can simply mean that water has dissolved minerals picked from the earth. Out of these, calcium and magnesium adversely affect the ability of water to function in household activities and are responsible in making the water hard. This makes the use of water softener appliances very essential. Let us see how does a water softener work.
Even though electromagnetic water softeners have been introduced, an ion-exchange resin forms the basics of water softening system for household purposes. As discussed, hard water contains calcium and magnesium ions and the ion exchange resin holds sodium ions. When hard water passes through this resin structure, there is an exchange of ions as the calcium and magnesium ions trade places with the more reactive sodium ions present in the resin. Earlier water softener widely used a category of minerals called zeolites which also exhibit similar ion-exchanging properties. The basic idea is to replace the less reactive ions by more reactive ones forming stable salts which will not easily react further with any other chemical. After this ion exchange is done, the water leaving the resin structure is said to be soft water. Read more on water softeners - how they work.
Chemistry in the Ion Exchange Resin
To get a clear view of how does water softener work, it is important to know the chemistry behind all this. Basically, the resin is nothing but a network of small polyester beads, which are negatively charged. The hard water has positively charged calcium and magnesium ions. As opposites attract, mineral ions in the water cling to the beads as the hard water passes through the resin structure. To compensate the loss of positive charge in the water sodium ions take the place of the earlier mineral ions thereby effecting an ion exchange.
Now, what happens when the beads get saturated with calcium and magnesium ions? This important to know for water softener troubleshooting. At this point, regenerating cycle comes in to picture. A water softener has another tank which contains a highly concentrated brine solution. This concentrated solution is nothing but common salt dissolved in water and is sodium rich. It is now carried from this brine tank to the main mineral tank. The sodium replaces calcium and magnesium on the beads, which are flushed down the drain. Once the beads are sodium rich again, the excess brine is flushed off and the brine tank is topped up. Untreated water is fed to the main tank and the process is repeated. The water leaving the main tank is soft and has desired properties.
Now I hope you know how does a water softener work. Many of your queries regarding this common home appliance may have been answered. Although, there are some debatable health concerns with the consumption of softened water, it can be very beneficial for use in non-consumable purposes.
Water with substantial quantities of dissolved minerals and salt is known as hard water. It is not suitable for domestic use, like for cooking, washing clothes, etc. This is because the dissolved calcium and magnesium salts can have adverse effect on efficiency of household appliances as a result of the salt clogging up pipes and water heating equipment. The mineral content in hard water also hinders the working of soaps and detergents by reacting with them to for a sticky scum and nullifies their effect. It is therefore, necessary to soften the water to make it more usable. Water softeners are appliances that reduce the salt and mineral contents in the hard water thereby making it soft. But, how does a water softener work? Let us discuss it now.
Working of Water Softener
While water is flowing, it dissolves soluble bits of the surface it passes over. Although this can include contamination which makes water unsuitable for consumption, in most cases it can simply mean that water has dissolved minerals picked from the earth. Out of these, calcium and magnesium adversely affect the ability of water to function in household activities and are responsible in making the water hard. This makes the use of water softener appliances very essential. Let us see how does a water softener work.
Even though electromagnetic water softeners have been introduced, an ion-exchange resin forms the basics of water softening system for household purposes. As discussed, hard water contains calcium and magnesium ions and the ion exchange resin holds sodium ions. When hard water passes through this resin structure, there is an exchange of ions as the calcium and magnesium ions trade places with the more reactive sodium ions present in the resin. Earlier water softener widely used a category of minerals called zeolites which also exhibit similar ion-exchanging properties. The basic idea is to replace the less reactive ions by more reactive ones forming stable salts which will not easily react further with any other chemical. After this ion exchange is done, the water leaving the resin structure is said to be soft water. Read more on water softeners - how they work.
Chemistry in the Ion Exchange Resin
To get a clear view of how does water softener work, it is important to know the chemistry behind all this. Basically, the resin is nothing but a network of small polyester beads, which are negatively charged. The hard water has positively charged calcium and magnesium ions. As opposites attract, mineral ions in the water cling to the beads as the hard water passes through the resin structure. To compensate the loss of positive charge in the water sodium ions take the place of the earlier mineral ions thereby effecting an ion exchange.
Now, what happens when the beads get saturated with calcium and magnesium ions? This important to know for water softener troubleshooting. At this point, regenerating cycle comes in to picture. A water softener has another tank which contains a highly concentrated brine solution. This concentrated solution is nothing but common salt dissolved in water and is sodium rich. It is now carried from this brine tank to the main mineral tank. The sodium replaces calcium and magnesium on the beads, which are flushed down the drain. Once the beads are sodium rich again, the excess brine is flushed off and the brine tank is topped up. Untreated water is fed to the main tank and the process is repeated. The water leaving the main tank is soft and has desired properties.
Now I hope you know how does a water softener work. Many of your queries regarding this common home appliance may have been answered. Although, there are some debatable health concerns with the consumption of softened water, it can be very beneficial for use in non-consumable purposes.
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