Water softeners are needed in homes with hard water containing high dissolved minerals such as calcium and magnesium. While not toxic, these minerals interfere with the effectiveness of soaps and detergents and can cause bathtub rings and less effective rinsing. The most common type of water softener uses ion exchange technology to reduce hardness. This method exchanges ions of hardness minerals for sodium ions.
Calcium and Magnesium
Water picks up dissolved minerals along the way as it evaporates from the ocean, transforms into clouds, and then precipitates on Earth as rain or snow. These mineral concentrations generally don’t present a health risk, but they can create hard water when the water percolates through rock and limestone deposits into underground aquifers. When the water reaches your home, it has accumulated high concentrations of calcium and magnesium in these insoluble deposits. These ions make the water hard, and while they do not harm humans, they can cause trouble for your plumbing systems. Water softeners Tampa work by physically and chemically filtering your water through an ion exchange tank device. In this tank, a synthetic or natural resin coated with positively charged sodium ions swaps them with the calcium and magnesium in your water, converting it to soft water. When the resin beads have absorbed all the hardness from your water, it is time to recharge them with salt from the salt tank, a process known as regeneration.
Ion Exchange
Ion exchange is the reversible interchange of one kind of ion in an insoluble solid with another of-like charge in a solution surrounding it. This reaction is often used for water softening, demineralization, and the purification of chemicals. In a softener, hard water flows through a bed of spherical resin beads made from polystyrene or other plastics. The resin beads are charged with sodium ions and have an opposite negative charge to the positive calcium and magnesium cations found in hard water. Opposite directions attract each other, so the resin cations grab the magnesium and calcium ions to release them from the bead, leaving softened water behind. Over time, the resin becomes saturated with mineral cations and must be regenerated or recharged. This is accomplished by flushing the wax with a salt brine solution. The frequency of the regeneration cycle is determined by monitoring effluent hardness or using an automatic monitor that regenerates when hardness levels are high.
Electrolysis
Many people wish to soften their water due to its mineral deposits that build up in their plumbing system and wreak havoc on household appliances. They also don’t like how hard water leaves soap scum on surfaces and skin or makes their clothes and dishes feel rough and dry. In addition, some businesses rely on soap’s foaming action to get their jobs done and want the soaps they use to work well with hard water. The natural water cycle brings rainwater to our homes from the clouds, picking up minerals such as calcium and magnesium on its journey through soil and rock to underground aquifers. This process is why some cities and counties within a state have varying degrees of water hardness.
Magnetism
Millions of people rely on hard water that contains high concentrations of dissolved minerals. These are usually metal cations like calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+). These minerals are not dangerous; they are essential for proper human body function, but long-term consumption of hard water has adverse effects that cause damage to your home and appliances, your hair, skin, and the environment. One way to eliminate these unwanted cations is to use a chelating agent. This binds to the metal cations and causes them to precipitate out of solution. Another method is ion exchange, where the unwanted ions are “exchanged” for more agreeable ones, such as Na+. This process works by conducting the hard water through a zeolite or resin column that binds the unwanted ions and releases the more desirable ones.
