Learn About Water
Calcium (Ca)
Many water supplies contain dissolved solids such as calcium and magnesium. These ions are typically referred to as “hardness” in the water. Levels exce
eding 10 mg/l are deemed hard, and water treatment should be considered as these elements can cause excessive wear on equipment such as water heaters, boilers, steamers, pumps humidifiers and other water aided devices. By removing the hardness from the water, the “softened” water elongates the life of many appliances. The most common method of softening water is though an ion exchange process. Through the use of manmade resins, the ion exchange process has become a very efficient means of removing hardness. In this process, resins are used to remove calcium and magnesium from the water. As a part of the process, the resin releases sodium or potassium into the water as a part of the exchange process. After the resin becomes exhausted, a regeneration sequence is used to remove the concentrated deposite of harnes from the resin bed, and replace it with soft ionssuch as sodium or potassium. This regeneration process typically uses sodium chloride (table salt) for the regeneration, however potassium chloride may also be used.
