- This topic has 5 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 23 years, 3 months ago by
GaryPurolite1.
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MasterPlumbers
Dear Master Plummer
I am doing some school projects and am interested in learning exactly how a water softner works. can you tell
me where I can find a diagram with step-by-step instruction on the mechanics of a water softner. It would be very
helpful to me
Thank you very much in advanceSincerely
Sam
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Try this link as one source of information: http://www.softenerparts.com/softbasi.html
Do a search for “water softeners”, I used altavista.com
[Edited by Jerry Peck on 17 November 2000] -
Sam, this is the best site you will find on water softners http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/housing/g946.htm
Respectfully David F. Walling
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The actual softening process is very simple. Water is sent through a bed of Zeolite resin. As the water molecules interact with the resin, sodium ions from the resin replace calcium ions in the water. After a period of time, depending on the hardness of the water and the size of the mineral bed, the sodium ions are depleted and the resin is full of calcium ions. It is at that point that the softener becomes more complicated. The recharging process first requires that water be sent through the resin bed in a reverse flow to flush out foreign matter that was filtered from the water and to “fluff up” the resin bed. Then brine is flushed through the resin to remove the calcium ions and recoat the resin beads with sodium ions. Then water is flushed through the bed to remove the excess brine and finally the system is restored to the service position.
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How do “catalyst” type water softners work, or do they. I’ve been reading about one made by SafeWater on the net that seems to be an excelent alternative to the conventional sodium charged softners.
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“Catalyst” processes do not soften water. There are only 4 methods to truly soften water:
1. Cation ion exchange by ion exchange resins.
2. Reverse Osmosis – this is a hardness reducing process and typically is preceded by a process to prevent hardness fouling of the membrane.
3. Total water deionization – this includes a cation ion exchange resin.
4. Distillation – typically too expensive to use for water softening and also typically preceded by a cation ion exchange process.
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