Learning About Water Softener

Learning About Water Softener

 Water having a high content of magnesium or calcium dissolved in it is referred to as hard water. Very often you may find residue forming inside the pipes and other things of your sanitation system which mainly happens due to deposition of precipitates of calcium and magnesium present in water. These precipitates are things you like to do away with, as they end up clogging the pipes so badly that the flow of water is restricted and eventually stopped. The chemicals present in water also react with soap that results in the formation of a sticky scum. So how do you deal with the ill effects of hard water? A water softener comes with ready solutions to remove the hardness of water.

What is a water softener?

A water softener comes in either zeolite chemical-matrix-filter or a beads-filter form and replaces the magnesium and calcium present in water with sodium ions. Sodium does not precipitate out of water and so doesn’t end up clogging your pipes. The water softener is hence used by many people to prevent the clogging of pipes and ensure the smooth running of hot water. Some people also use water softeners in their showers, tanks and sinks to check the occurrence of spots that results from the deposits of hard water chemicals.

Basic components

A water softener typically consists of three parts – the mineral tank, control valve and brine tank. The mineral tank has two-third of its volume filled with softening resin. Water is directed in an out of the mineral tank by the control valve which also coordinates the regeneration process and time. The third component of the water softener is the brine tank which works as a storage tank for potassium chloride, resin cleaner and brine water when required.

How does water softener work?  

If you are wondering how a water softener removes the hardness of water, here are the steps that the device goes through for carrying out the cleansing process.

Firstly, the softening valve directs the hard water down through the resin, and the soft water is pushed up the distributor tube in the household plumbing. This forms the first cycle of the process of cleansing and lasts for approximately ten minutes. After this, the water flow is reversed by the control valve and made to run backwards in an upward flow direction through the drain line. The backwash leads to the lifting of the beads and the accumulated sediments are separated. This process works out well especially for water containing iron in it.

The next cycle of the cleansing process lasts for almost fifty minutes and aims at running the water in a downward flow direction through the mineral tank and also keeps pulling salt from the brine tank. The potassium chloride solution or salt makes the resin bed release the hardness of iron ions. After about ten minutes of the cycle, the storage tank tends to run out of salt and the device works by rinsing the excess salt from the mineral tank. The next cycle is of only ten minutes which gives the final rinse to the softening resin beads. The last cycle of the control valve is to put fresh water back into the brine tank.