A water softener is a type of ion exchanger where the Ca and Mg ions are exchanged, usually for sodium ions. A softener is designed in function of the incoming water hardness and the capacity. The harder the water, the more volume of resins needed to soften a certain volume of water.
It is important that the water to be treated by the water softener does not contain suspended particles. These suspended particles could obstruct the water softener and prevent the resins from functioning correctly.
A standard water softener can be provided in simplex or duplex configuration. A simplex softener only consists of one softening column. When the installation is regenerating, no water can be softened. A duplex installation consists of 2 bottles. While one bottle is functioning, the other one is stand-by or regenerating.
For larger installations the principle of 'Merry go round’ is also used. It involves connecting three or more columns to one control unit with multiple columns in operation at all times. The advantage of this system is that the resins are used more optimally than in a duplex unit.
For the regeneration of the resins brine is used. This brine is usually produced by dissolving salt tablets in water or can be supplied as a ready to use product by the chemical supplier.
Often a water softener is used as a pretreatment for a RO, but in this case the dosage of anti-scalant offers an interesting alternative. Both in terms of investment costs, operational costs and usage.
PCA can help you with this technology, both in design and construction of the installation.