| Many people have water softeners in their homes. | | | | and a negatively charged chloride atom. As the water |
| Many of you that do don't understand how a | | | | passes through this resin, the resin takes a calcium |
| softener works. Sure, it allows you to use less | | | | ion and gives up a sodium ion. |
| detergent in the laundry and your soap lathers much | | | | The end result is a concentration of sodium ions in |
| better in the shower, but how does it work? | | | | your water in place of the calcium ions, and sodium |
| Hardness in water is actually calcium. Hardness is also | | | | ions do not contribute to hardness in your water. |
| a few trace minerals like magnesium and iron, but the | | | | Eventually the resin becomes depleted of all of it's |
| majority of this hardness is calcium. Calcium, when | | | | sodium ions so it must be replenished. This is what |
| dissolved in water forms what's called a cation. That | | | | happens when your softener system goes into |
| is, it takes on a positive charge. | | | | backwash. If flushes out all the calcium to drain and |
| All this calcium is what makes soap harder to lather, | | | | replenishes all of the sodium lost to the ion exchange |
| which makes it undesirable in your water for cleaning | | | | process. |
| purposes. Many people who live in areas with very | | | | This is why your softener needs salt and why you |
| hard water will install a water softener to take out all | | | | must keep replacing it. |
| the hardness. | | | | It's a good method for making nice soft water for |
| A water softener is simply a vessel filled with | | | | cleaning, but remember: The calcium is replaced with |
| thousands and thousands of little beads called an ion | | | | sodium on a 1:1 basis. This may mean that you end |
| exchange resin. The resin will remove the calcium | | | | up with a large amount of sodium in your water |
| from the water in a process called ion exchange. This | | | | which is not good for people with hypertension and |
| process can remove the calcium in your water only | | | | heart disease. If you do install a softener, it is in your |
| by substituting another element in its place. In this | | | | best interest to have the plumber bypass the lines to |
| case, the element is sodium. | | | | your kitchen sink so you can use this water for |
| The salt you add to your softener is actually sodium | | | | drinking and cooking without high concentrations of |
| chloride. When introduced into water, it dissolves into | | | | sodium. |
| two compounds: A positively charged sodium atom | | | | |