Water softening is perhaps one of the most common water treatment and purification methods in Hungary. This is so often needed because most of our waters are groundwater, and in the water that seeps through the rocks here, a lot of calcium and magnesium dissolves, causing water hardness. Dissolved metal salts precipitate out of the water and limescale formation begins in the pipe systems, inside the household appliances and equipment. As a result, their lifespan is shortened and their impact deteriorates. For water softening tasks, there are different types of water softeners that remove calcium and magnesium ions that cause water hardness, more specifically, they replace sodium ions that do not cause water hardness. Smaller domestic water softeners and industrial water softeners do not differ much, usually only in size.
Customers usually face a water hardness problem when water analysis arrives after a well drill, or they simply notice that equipment and surfaces are calcifying. However, it is also possible that only better water quality and soft water are needed. Waterworks and all facilities required for drinking water quality must comply with the drinking water quality required by the current regulation (you can read about this in the information menu), which often means very hard water, as the limit is 350 mg / l CaO, ie 35 nk °. This limit, on the other hand, already means very high levels of calcium and magnesium, even if we talk about half of this at 17-18nk °, it is considered hard water, causing severe deposits. It is that we do not need soft water almost entirely because of the consequences of the current drinking water regulation or the unpleasant calcification, but because of the technology used. In all cases, a water softener is used, using only other parameters. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that soft water should not be confused with desalinated water! This is also mistakenly associated by many professionals and claims that soft water is aggressive, meaning it damages piping and equipment. This is not the case, since during water softening we do not change the total salt content of the water, since in the vast majority of cases a so-called sodium ion exchange method is used. This means that some ions, in this case calcium-magnesium ions, are replaced by others, e.g. sodium ions. The aggressiveness of water occurs when the salt balance of the water is broken, some or even all of the mineral salt content is extracted from the water without being replaced by other ions.
