Reasons Why A Water Softner Might Be Right For You.
If you are living in an area where the water supplied is hard in nature or the ground water that is available for your use is hard, water softeners can be a great help. A water softener has the capability to reduce the hardness in water by reducing the concentration of minerals causing hardness. The main culprits for water hardness are minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Certain amounts of calcium and magnesium are permissible in our water. If the amount of calcium and/or magnesium is greater than the permissible level then they cause hardness in water. The excessive calcium or magnesium ions in water cause various problems such as deposits inside the water pipes, clogging of pipes, deposits in the cookware, coffee machines and other appliances. The reason for the hard water creating this mess is the ions of calcium and magnesium are easily dissolved in water but these ions have the tendency to stick together. They also have a tendency to create a bond with other materials such as the copper in water pipes. Once a small number of ions bond with materials such as copper, it is merely a matter of time until other ions bond with them. Within no time a cluster of ions comprising of calcium and magnesium are formed. This is known as scale formation. Hard water does not create lather with soap. A water softener becomes extremely important in such cases. Water softeners are extremely effective and easy to install. They come in the form of beads filter or zeolite chemical matrix form. These water softeners aim at replacing the calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions. Sodium ions unlike the calcium and magnesium ions do not create deposits and also do not form a sticky substance with soap as in the case of water with calcium and magnesium ions. The way water softeners work is simple. The water passes through the zeolite or the beads network. These filters are saturated with sodium ions. When water rich in calcium or magnesium passes through these beads, the sodium ion swaps places with the calcium and magnesium ions. In this way, the calcium and magnesium ions are now in the zeolite while the sodium ions gets into the water and the hardness of water is removed. From time to time, it is desirable that the beads are recharged with sodium. In order to do this, the water softener is flushed with brine solution. This causes cat ion exchange again and the water softener is ready for use again. The structure of the zeolites is basically porous. These minerals are available naturally and are also made artificially. These zeolites are basically hydrated alumino-silicate minerals. They have an open structure. The positively held ions in the structure are exchanged with the solution that flows past them. The natural zeolites are formed ash layers and volcanic rocks react together. Slow crystallization of silica-alumina gel is done to produce artificial zeolites. |
