Softening

Most of the UK suffers from hard water which affects domestic, commercial and industrial premises.   This results in scale build up where ever water is heated or evaporates which ends up with blocked pipes and scaled up surfaces.  Scale is a natural insulator and will prevent efficient heat transfere within boilers, heat exchangers, radiators, taps and shower heads.  Over time this could completely block a water system.  It could cause malfunctioning equipment and with the build up of scale make the system more and more costly to operate.  The solution to these issues is normally to install a base exchange water softening plant.

Environmental Water Systems (UK) Ltd supplies an extensive and comprehensive range of Water Softening Plant.

Our Water Softeners use the “ion exchange” method to reduce the amount of scale forming salts such as calcium and magnesium from a feed water source to prevent downstream scaling and accelerated corrosion of process lines of equipment. Scale forming salts commonly known as hard ions, are sparingly soluble and have a tendency to precipitate on to contact surfaces in the form of carbonates, sulphates and hydroxides.

A standard water softener works by allowing hard water to filter downwards through a bed of ion exchange resin. The ion exchange resin attracts the calcium and magnesium ions (hardness) and replaces them with sodium ions which are less problematic for water systems and will not cause scale build-up. Once the ion exchange resins are saturated with hardness, the regeneration sequence on the water softener begins.

The regeneration sequence starts with the backwash cycle which reverses the flow of the water to pass upwards through the ion exchange resin bed. This frees the beads of the ion exchange resin. Ion exchange resins are then saturated with a brine solution which releases the calcium and magnesium ions and replaces them with sodium ions. Both the calcium and magnesium ions flow along with the water and excess brine solution to drain. Using a down flow flush removes excess brine left on the ion exchange resin beds. The softener is then back into service mode.

The size of water softener required varies according to the flow-rate and the hardness of the water. Our team of expert engineers can provide assistance with this.