Water Softener Packages

Precipitation softening processes are used to reduce raw water hardness, alkalinity, silica, and other constituents. This helps prepare water for direct use as cooling tower makeup or as a first-stage treatment followed by ion exchange for boiler makeup or process use

The water is treated with lime or a combination of lime and soda ash (carbonate ion). These chemicals react with the hardness and natural alkalinity in the water to form insoluble compounds.

The compounds precipitate and are removed from the water by sedimentation and, usually, filtration. Waters with moderate to high hardness and alkalinity concentrations (150-500 ppm as CaCO3) are often treated in this fashion. Some of common softening technologies are as below:

Lime Softener

In waters where you have high hardness or sulphates or other constituents you need to precipitate or take out, a lime and/or a lime soda process is used. It raises the pH, causing hardness in the water to precipitate out. Cold, warm, or hot lime processes can be used, and each will yield a different efficiency. In general, hotter water removes more hardness.

ION Exchange System

In some industrial and municipal applications, if there’s high hardness, there may be post treatment for the removal of the hardness. Instead of lime, a softening resin can be used; a strong acid cation exchange process, whereby resin is charged with a sodium ion, and as the hardness comes through, it has a higher affinity for calcium, magnesium, and iron so it will grab that molecule and release the sodium molecule into the water.