Ion Exchange Water Softener Diagram

An ion exchange water softener exchanges the hardness minerals calcium and magnesium dissolved in water for sodium.

Ion exchange water softener diagram. Aside from its use to purify drinking water the technique is widely applied for purification and separation of a variety of industrially and medicinally. In zeolite softening water containing scale forming ions such as calcium and magnesium passes through a resin bed containing sac resin in the sodium form. The exchange is made possible because the minerals are ionic in nature which means they have an electrical charge. A standard whole house water softener works on the principle of ion exchange called cation exchange it conditions or softens hard water by substituting sodium chloride salt for hard minerals such as calcium magnesium and iron.

The ion exchange process is based on the fact that like charges repel one another and opposite charges attract. This video uses animation techniques to show you how ion exchange works. As hard water passes through a softener the calcium and magnesium trade places with sodium ions figure 1. The hardness ions ca and mg move into the resin beads and each of these divalent.

In the resin the hardness ions are exchanged with the sodium and the sodium diffuses into the bulk water solution. Sodium zeolite softening is the most widely applied use of ion exchange. In the ion exchange process sodium ions are used to coat an exchange medium in the softener. Ion exchange usually describes a processes of purification of aqueous solutions using solid polymeric ion exchange resin more precisely the term encompasses a large variety of processes where ions are exchanged between two electrolytes.