Soft water
Written by admin on October 14th, 2008 in Soft water.
Soft water
Soft water is the term employed to describe the types of water which contain little or no calcium or magnesium ions. The term is related to hard water, which contains significant quantities of such ions. Soft water is treated water in which the only ion is sodium. Water containing little or no dissolved magnesium or calcium salts, particularly water containing less than 85.5 parts per million of calcium carbonate is called soft water. Soft water is not similar to pure water. Soft water usually comes from the sources of peat or igneous rock, such as the granite but can also derived from the sources of sandstone, since such sedimentary rocks usually contains low percentage of calcium and magnesium. Soft water contains sodium ions. Soft water tastes salty for us. On the one hand, sodium will not precipitate and will not block the piping, nor it will decrease the effectiveness of the soaps and the detergents like the hard water.
Rainwater is naturally a soft water. However, water transforms its way through the ground and in to our water ways, it takes ores like chalk, lime and most of the time calcium and magnesium. Since the hard water contains the essential ores, it is sometimes preferred as drinking water, not only because it is healthy, but also it tastes good. Soft on the other hand tastes salty and sometimes it is not appropriate for drinking.
The important advantage of soft water is that it saves your money. There are also other advantages related to soft water. The deposits of lime in the water which gets accumulated on heaters during immersion, in the kettles, the washing machines, irons, the dishwashers and the interior of pipes and the hot water cylinders. Hard water, which includes magnesium and sodium ions, requires more energy to heat water where as soft water requires only less energy.
The hard water soaks up the shampoos and bubble bath. Soft water also has a “silky” feeling with it and considerably helps those people who suffer from dry skin. A bath remains clean with soft water and the water easily flows through the showerheads as there is no chance of blocking the holes. Use of soft water in your house, requires less detergent in your washing machine and less soap powder in your dishwasher. You also won’t have to add separate salt to the dishwasher’s water softening unit.
Since soft water leaves fewer residues than hard water, you don’t have to clean your product often and it will take you less time and effort. An American study noted that softened water cut the average time required for baths, cleaning of, sinks, taps, shower etc by nearly of 40% when compared with a hard water house. Soft water also makes it easier to maintain and clean toilets. Cooking with soft water increases the taste and color of the food. The hard water can be softened by treating it with lime or by passing it through an ionic exchange resin. The resins of ionic exchange are complex sodium salts. Water flows above the resin surface, dissolving sodium. Minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and any other precipitate on the resin surface.
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