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Introduction To Water Softening Minnesota Water Quality Association Scott Schiesser www.MWQA.com
Introduction To Water Softening
Minnesota Water Quality AssociationScott Schiesser
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• This educational offering is recognized by the Minnesota
Department of Labor and Industry as satisfying 2 hours of Non-‐Code
credit toward Water Conditioning and Plumbing continuing education
requirements.
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What We Will Talk About• Purpose of this Course• Some Technical Issues• Ion Exchange Basics• Capacity• Salt Usage• A little about Resin
• How to Explain it to a Prospect • Why Bother?
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Purpose• Because some of us don’t know• Because our customers definitely don’t know• So we can better serve our customers• So we can make correct recommendations• So we can troubleshoot equipment• So we can explain to the prospect in terms they will understand
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Are You a Credible Professional?
National Consumer Water Quality Research Summary
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See yourself as a Professional
What is a professional?
• Attire• Knowledge• How much do they get paid• How many hours do they work• How often do they practice & train• Other
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Mind Set
• You are guaranteed to fail if you do not commit to using the things you learn.
• You must be innovative
• You must be determinedwww.MWQA.com
Water That Goes…
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On You…
…and In You
Which is a Higher Priority for You?
Hardness
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Hardness
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Standard S-‐‑339
WQA and The American Society of Agricultural Engineers work long and hard (get it…hard?) on this chart so show some respect and appreciation when you meet one of those people. www.MWQA.com
Hardness
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How Hard is Your Water
Hard Water is found in 85% of all American Homes
US Geological Survey
A family of four with water hardness of just 5 gpg will have over 75 lbs of dissolved rock flow though their plumbing system and appliances.
(7000 grains equals 1 pound)
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Soft Water & Domestic Water Heating
• Scale forms way faster in hot water
• Hard water scale has a 5% thermal conductivity, about the same as fire brick
• Will save 22% of energy on soft water (New Mexico State University)
• WH should be drained• May not be as soft as it cleans itself out
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Components of an Ion Exchange Unit
Brine Tank
Resin Column
Control Valve
Riser TubeBrine Float
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Let’s Talk About Salt
NaClSalt is only salt when the sodium and chloride are stuck together. When you put a compound in water the ions separate. In this case, sodium goes one way and chloride goes another.
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Let’s Talk About Salt
NaClThe Sodium carries a positive (cation) charge and the Chloride carries a negative charge (anion)
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CationResin is…• Sulfonated polystyrene copolymer cation exchange resin
• NaCl is the standard regenerate
• KCl can also be used
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CationResin• Insoluble plastic beads of polystyrene cross-‐linked with divinylbenzene
• 0.4-‐1.2 millimeters in size• 45-‐47 % moisture (water)• Removes cations (+ ions)
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Calcium & Magnesium
Calcium and Magnesium are bigger and stronger than sodium.
Scott’s Portrait
That sodium guy is a nerd and a wimp…
Ca++ Na++
I’m Strong enough to proudly wear pink…Gotta problem with that?www.MWQA.com
The Process
As the water flows across the resin, the bigger, stronger calcium kicks off the sodium (which goes into the water) and takes its place on the resin bead.
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The Process
What Happens if you over fill a bucket?
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The Process
The resin can only hold so much hardness before it will over flow.
Regeneration is emptying the bucket so you can put more water in the bucket.
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Capacity
The amount of resin in a tank depends on how big the tank is.
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CapacityCommon Tank Sizes:
1 Cubic foot of resin (13 ft) can remove approximately 30,000 grains of hardness
8X48 = .75 cubic ft or 24,000 grain capacity 10X48 = 1 cubic ft or 30,000 grain capacity10X54 = 1.5 cubic ft or 45,000 grain capacity
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Capacity
A 30,000 grain capacity unit can theoretically remove 30,000 grains of hardness.
That means if you have 30 grains per gallon of hardness the system could soften 1000 gallons of water.
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A word on Compensated Hardness
Iron is more difficult to remove from the water than hardness. To compensate for the iron in the water, the industry standard says to multiply the iron by 3 then add it to the hardness to get compensated hardness.
Ca + (Fe X 3)= Compensated Hardness
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Fully Automatic Softeners• Timered
• Cleans every so many days
• Demand Control• Measures the amount of water used to determine a regeneration schedule
• Accounts for 2/3 of units sold today
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Demand Softeners• Way More Salt & Water Efficient
• Resin Sensors• Proportional Brining• Twin Tank
• Salt Efficiency• 3000-‐5000 g/lb
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Why Bother?• Because our competition isn’t• Because we can better serve our customers
• It helps us troubleshoot• It helps us earn referrals• Because we are professional• Because knowledge is power!
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