What is water softening?

Water softening refers to the process of softening the hard water -so that it flows easy on the plumbing equipments like pipes and appliances such as washing machines. Hard water is the water which is stuffed with magnesium, calcium & other minerals. The groundwater gathers these minerals from surrounding rock and soil. If the water tests 1 GPG or less, it’s soft water but if it is something like 7 to 10.5 GPG, it’s hard water. There are water softening plants that work to soften the hard water so that it can be used safely.

Benefits of water softening

Hard water tends to leave scales or patchs on pots, detergent curds on washing machine and soap films. Scales also buildup on the water heaters & reduce their lifecycle. Thus, water softening is extremely important to save the appliances and plumbing equipments from these patches- that are not just unsightly but also prevent you from getting the most of their utilities. Besides, softened water will also reduce your cleaning time as there would hardly be scales or patches on your appliances.

How does water softening plant work?

Water softening is mostly done through ion exchange resins. Here is how such a softening plant works-

Ion exchange

Ion exchange refers to a physical & chemical process that filters water through some exchange media such as zeolite or resin. The resin is a sand-like material that comes wrapped in positively- charged sodium ions. When the magnesium and calcium in hard water dissolves into the positively-charged ions, it leads to a kind of ion-exchange environment. Water will flow through water softening unit whilst resin releases sodium ions & trades them with magnesium and calcium ions – and you finally get soft water.

Regeneration

When all sodium-exchange sites get replaced with the hardness minerals, resin gets exhausted & can’t soften the water any more. Now, a water softener would have to take some alternate cycle, termed as “regeneration”. Here, the resin would be backwashed with salt solution & the brine would be reverse flushed via the system. It would take with it magnesium and calcium ions that were absorbed on resin. As backwashing gets over, the softening plant would switch operation cycle once again, either manually or automatically.

Uses of softened water

- Boiler feed
- Food processing
- Ice plant
- Pharmaceuticals
- Washing etc.

Kelvin Water Technologies is one of the most trusted names when it comes to water softening plant manufacturing and maintenance in India. We assure you premium quality water softeners which are eco-friendly, cost-effective and produces high quality water. Moreover, our units are always easy on installation and use. We guarantee you good portability with our units so that you can conveniently carry it from one point to another.

However, to ensure a smooth flow of soft water, you must be careful to have the plant in proper working condition always. Your convenience is of utmost importance to us and hence we also provide expert water softening plant maintenance services.