How does a home water softener work?
in [House]
|
From: Pringles CheezUms on 5 Apr 2008 17:41 How does a home water softener work? We got one a year, maybe two, ago and I'd like to know how it works. It consists of: 1) a large-ish canister main unit that has the main control panel and a couple hundred or so pounds of salt 2) a 5-gal holding tank and 3) an under-the sink reverse-osmosis filter system with faucet installed in sink. With plastic tubing connecting the units obviously. We had a repair/maintenance guy here a week or two ago and we asked him the same thing, concerned that a couple of us have blood pressure issues and didn't want additional sodium in the water. Here's what I think he said (which may or may not be what he actually said): it softens the water for the whole house, but the salt was only to clean out the holding tank. About once a day, the holding tank is emptied and salt water fills the tank. It is then emptied and fresh water flushes the tank and is then emptied. The R-O unit then starts to fill the tank again. There is no brand on the unit, but the commands are in english and french. How does a home water softening system work in general? How does it 'soften' water? What physical/chemical/mechanical principles does it work on? Does it really only use the salt for washing out the holding tank? Thank you for the help!
From: Craig on 5 Apr 2008 17:22 "Pringles CheezUms" wrote... > How does a home water softener work? > > We got one a year, maybe two, ago and I'd like to know how it works. > It consists of: 1) a large-ish canister main unit that has the main > control panel and a couple hundred or so pounds of salt 2) a 5-gal > holding tank and 3) an under-the sink reverse-osmosis filter system with > faucet installed in sink. With plastic tubing connecting the units > obviously. > We had a repair/maintenance guy here a week or two ago and we asked him > the same thing, concerned that a couple of us have blood pressure issues > and didn't want additional sodium in the water. > Here's what I think he said (which may or may not be what he actually > said): it softens the water for the whole house, but the salt was only > to clean out the holding tank. About once a day, the holding tank is > emptied and salt water fills the tank. It is then emptied and fresh > water flushes the tank and is then emptied. The R-O unit then starts to > fill the tank again. > There is no brand on the unit, but the commands are in english and > french. > How does a home water softening system work in general? How does it > 'soften' water? What physical/chemical/mechanical principles does it > work on? Does it really only use the salt for washing out the holding > tank? > > Thank you for the help! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_softener
From: Doug Miller on 5 Apr 2008 18:50 In article <jcrfv3d0bhu095bcmd9h16l77fmcr5fcj4(a)4ax.com>, Pringles CheezUms <nowhere(a)nohow.com> wrote: >How does a home water softener work? Damn, Google must be broken again.
From: Stan Brown on 6 Apr 2008 01:54 Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:22:28 GMT from Craig <wpyr(a)invalid.us>: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_softener So it would seem that home water softeners work by taking out calcium, magnesium, manganese, and iron ions and replacing them with sodium ions. I wonder about the concentration. Is the OP right to be concerned about sodium intake from softened water? -- Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai...
From: Craig on 6 Apr 2008 09:56 "Stan Brown" wrote... > Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:22:28 GMT from Craig : >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_softener > > So it would seem that home water softeners work by taking out > calcium, magnesium, manganese, and iron ions and replacing them with > sodium ions. > > I wonder about the concentration. Is the OP right to be concerned > about sodium intake from softened water? Yes, softeners that recharge the ion exchange resin by using salt are a concern. Back as a kid, my family had a water softener--but unsoftened cold water was piped to our kitchen sink (and outdoor spigots) for drinking and cooking rather than softened water. Craig
|
Next
|
Last
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Prev: Titan Anchor rod, anchor bit Next: LEARN HOW TO WORK FROM HOME WITH INTERNET |