commercial and industrial water softeners for businesses

ion exchange resins and membrane filtration (Nanofiltration) technology

WATER FILTRATION THAT DELIVER A LOW-COST AND CONSISTENT SOFT WATER

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Water softeners reduce the dissolved Calcium, Magnesium and to some extent, Manganese and Iron ions present in hard water. Commercial and industrial water softeners are necessary because these “dissolved hardness ions” are responsible for undesired cement-like deposits in pipes and heat exchangers and also for stains in rinsed surfaces and reduced detergent efficiency.

1. Hard water softening systems in commercial an industrial environments

Hardness in water is due to the presence of certain dissolved metallic ions. In general, the most common of these hardness-causing ions are Calcium and Magnesium.

Carbonates tend to precipitate out as hard deposits on the surfaces of pipes and heat exchanging surfaces. As a result, the resulting build-up of cement-like scale tends to restrict the water flow inside the pipes.

In boilers, for example, the deposits act as an insulation that impairs the flow of heat into water, reducing the heating efficiency and allowing the metal boiler components to overheat.

In addition, cooling towers suffer fouling caused by Calcium Carbonate precipitation and Iron and Manganese oxidation. These precipitates are responsible for a decrease in airflow through the tower and if not corrected, can seriously reduce the tower’s performance.

In general, most commercial and industrial plants such as boilers, cooling towers, car washes, laundries etc need soft water. As a result, water softeners are common in the treatment of surface and well water supplies for these industries.

2. Measuring water quality levels

Hardness in water is the sum of the concentrations of Calcium and Magnesium. Other ions produce hardness too: Iron, Manganese, Strontium, Barium, Zinc, and Aluminum, however these ions are generally not present in significant quantities and are not included when measuring water hardness.

Hardness is generally expressed in units of milligrams per liter (mg/L) as Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). An expression also used to define hardness in the context of ion-exchange water softeners is grains per gallon (1 grain per gallon of hardness is equal to 17.1 mg/L as CaCO3).

Total hardness (mg/L as CaCO3) = Calcium hardness (mg/L as CaCO3) + Magnesium hardness (mg/L as CaCO3)
Calcium hardness (mg/L as CaCO3) = Calcium (mg/L) * Equivalent Weight of CaCO3 / Equivalent Weight of Ca = Calcium (mg/L) * 2.5
Magnesium hardness (mg/L as CaCO3) = Magnesium (mg/L) * Equivalent Weight of CaCO3 / Equivalent Weight of Mg = Magnesium (mg/L) * 4

Hardness Level	mg/L as CaCO3	Grains per gallon (gpg)
Soft	0 - 75	0 - 4.4
Moderate	75 - 150	4.4 - 8.8
Hard	150 - 300	8.8 - 17
Very Hard	>300	> 17

3. Typical commercial and industrial applications for Softening systems

4. water-related problems solved with water softening

The built-up scale narrows the pipe cross-section and as a consequence, the supply flow is reduced
Higher risk of corrosion in metal pipes
Lower water flow in pumps due to higher pressure loss across the water circuit
Reduction in efficiency of all heat exchange systems due to the insulating effect of the cement-like deposits.
Overheating inside the surfaces of the heat source in boilers, thereby causing premature failure and excessive energy and maintenance costs.
Reduced performance of soaps and detergents which have to be used in greater quantities to achieve the necessary cleaning performance.

5. Two main technologies used in INDUSTRIAL and commercial softening FILTRATION

Watercore design, manufacture and service industrial and commercial softeners using two different systems:

Resin or ion exchange water softeners

Membrane (nanofiltration) water softeners

5.1 Ion-exchange resin filter

Resin or ion exchange water treatment replaces Calcium and Magnesium ions with Sodium. Basically the incoming water passes through a resin filter and the resin ‘traps’ the Calcium ions, or limescale, from the solution and exchanges them for ions of sodium. As Sodium has a higher solubility than Calcium or Magnesium in water, this exercise translates into higher water quality.

5.2 Membrane / Nanofiltration systems

In contrast to the ion exchange resin water softeners, membrane water softeners use low-pressure Nanofiltration membranes, similar to reverse osmosis membranes, to remove bivalent ions from water. As a rule of thumbs these type of commercial and industrial water softening membranes reject 99.8% of sulfate and bivalent ions while passing other components, particularly monovalent ions such as Chloride and Sodium, allowing for ultra-low-pressure operations.

6. Benefits of using softened water FILTRATION

7. Getting it right: selecting the right commercial and industrial water treatment

At Watercore, we are experts at ensuring that you choose the right water softener for your application. Above all, our range of commercial and industrial water softeners will provide the solution to all your water hardness problems.

Similar to to other water treatment systems, the sizing of a water softener will depend on a number of factors including hardness of the water, volumes of water used, flow rate required and type of application. However our technical sales team are available to help you with all aspects of design, from the sizing of the unit to the best and most practical location.

To summarise, Watercore engineers design, manufacture and service a wide range of commercial and industrial water softening equipment in Australia. Hardness is considered a common denominator in the majority of Australian industrial water problems, however water filters are available to improve the water quality with variable capacity.