Water Softner Units
Water is considered ‘hard’ when it has excessive levels of calcium and magnesium dissolved in it. Hard water can lead to the following water problems:
- Scale build-up in pipes, resulting in decreased flow rates.
- Scale build-up on heating and cooling systems, leading to increased electricity costs and breakdowns.
- White film on glass surfaces and staining on water taps.
- Increased laundry costs due to hard water reacting with soap and laundry detergents.
How they work
A water softener reduces hardness in water by removing the calcium and magnesium ions in the water, and replacing them with sodium ions, which do not lead to any form of scale build-up or precipitation.
A standard water softener consists of 2 vessels. The first vessel contains a sodium coated zeolite ion exchange resin. Water passes through the vessel under pressure, flowing over the softener resin, which attracts the calcium and magnesium ions to its surface, exchanging them for sodium ions.
Once the softener resin has reached the end of its service cycle and can hold no more calcium and magnesium, it automatically starts a regeneration cycle, drawing a solution of brine from the second vessel, the brine tank, into the softener resin vessel. The brine solution washes the softener resin, causing the calcium and magnesium ions to be washed to drain, and the resin to be regenerated with sodium ions.
After a period of time (90-180 minutes, depending on the softener size and configuration), the resin vessel automatically rinses itself with clean water and switches back into service, ready to start softening water again.
All water softeners supplied by Project Pumps are fully automatic. The only operator assistance required is the addition of salt to the softener’s brine tank occasionally.