SOFTENING OF

WATER

Presented by:-
Mr. Ravikant Patil
Mr. Vishal Kasale
  INTRODUCTION

• Water softening is the process of removing hardness.

• Hardness is defined as the water’s ability to consume
soap.
• Besides making water more pleasing for washing
purposes, softening water can also provide benefits of
preventing encrustation and scaling inside boilers,
water heaters, hot-water lines, as well as some
industrial processes.
• Hardness is usually expressed in terms of “ppm as
CaCO3”, or ppm as calcium carbonate.
• The terms, “hard water” and “soft water” are used
loosely, as there are no accepted standards or
“measuring scale” to determine if water is soft or hard.
 The primary constituents in water that cause hardness
are calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), especially
calcium. Iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) can also
promote to water hardness, but typically at a much
lesser degree.
 Water heaters suffer from hard water
 The hardness of water varies with where the source
water came from. The mineral content and hardness of
water typically reflects the nature of geological
formations through which the water comes in contact,
for example limestone.
 In general, ground water sources are much harder than
surface waters.
 HARD WATER CAUSES
FOLLOWING TROUBLES

1) Increases soap consumption in laundry work

2) Effect on dyeing system.
3) Causes serious difficulties in industrial processes.
eg. Ice manufacturing, paper making etc.
4) Causes scaling effects on pipes and boilers.
5) Clogging of pipe due to precipitation of salts.
6) Makes food tasteless , tough or rubbery.
CLASSIFICATION OF WATER BASED
ON HARDNESS VALUE

CLASSIFICATION TOTAL HARDNESS AS

Mg/lit
SOFT 0-50
MODERATELY HARD 50-150
HARD 150-300
EXTREMELY HARD ABOVE 300
 NECESSITY OF SOFTENING
The softening of water removes all above
difficulties. In addition of these softening
1) Increases efficiency of filtration.
2) Aids in removal of colour, Iron,
Manganese.
3) Makes possible the production of non-
corrosive water.
4) Improves cooking of foods.
5) Increases the efficiency of reduction of
bacteria when filtration follows
softening.
TYPES OF HARDNESS

 1) Carbonate (Temporary) hardness.

 2) Non-carbonate (Permanent) hardness.

Temporary Hardness

It is because carbonates and bicarbonates of

calcium and magnesium.
It can be removed by boiling.

Permanent Hardness

It is caused by sulphates , chorides and nitrates of

calcium and magnesium.
Compounds causing temporary Compounds causing permanent
hardness hardness
Calcium Bicarbonate Ca(HCO3) Calcium Sulphate CaSO4
2

Magnesuim Bicarbonate Magnesium Sulphate MgSO4

Mg(HCO3)2
Calcium Chloride CaCl2
Magnesium Choride MgCl2
A] Removal Of Temporary Hardness
Temporary Hardness can be removed by
1) Boiling
2) Adding Lime.

1) Boiling – The following actions takes place during boiling.

Ca(HCO3)2 + Heat CaCO3 + H2O + CO2

Mg(HCO3)2 + Heat MgCO3 + H2O + CO2

This method can be used on small scale. It proves costlier on large scale.
2) Addition of Lime

The following reactions takes place when lime is added,

Ca (HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + 2H2O

Lime

Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 MgCO3 + CaCO3 + 2H2O

The calcium Carbonate (CaCO)3 and Magnesium

carbonate(MgCO3) thus formed are removed in
sedimentation tank.
 REMOVAL OF PERMANENT HARDNESS
 Permanent hardness can be removed by one of
the following methods.

1) Lime Soda Process

2) Zeolite Process (Ion Exchange )
3) Demineralization or Deionization process
1 ) LIME SODA PROCESS

In this method lime Ca(OH)2 And soda

ash [NaCO3] are added to the hard water
which react with calcium and magnesium
salts so as to form insoluble precipitates of
calcium carbonate and magnesium
hydrauxide.[Mg(OH)2]. These precipitates
are settled out in sedimentation tank.
The chemical reactions which may be involved are

Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + 2H2O

Calcium Lime Calcium
bicarbonate carbonate

Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 Ca(HCO3)2 + Mg(OH)2

Magnesium
Bicarbonate

MgCO3 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaCO3

Magnesium
Carbonate
MgCl2 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaCl2
Magnesium
Chloride
5) MgSO4 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaSO4
Magnesium
sulphate
6) CO2 + Ca(OH)2 CaCO3 + H2O
Free
Dissolved

7) CaCl2 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + 2NaCl

Calcium
Chloride

8) CaSO4 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + Na2SO4

ADVANTAGES
 ADVANTAGES
1) Process is economical .
2) Can easily be combined with usual water
treatment methods without much extra cost.
3) If Lime and Soda are added for softening then
dose of alum required for coagulation is
less.
4) Increased causticity sometimes helps in killing

of bacteria.
5) Total mineral content of water is reduced.
6) Can remove Iron and Manganese up to some
 DISADVANTAGES

1) Large quantity of sludge is produced.

2) Skilled supervision is required.
3) Recarbonation is must which
increases cost.
4) Zero hardness water can not be
produced.
ZEOLITE (ION EXCHANGE ) PROCESS

A wide variety of dissolved solids including hardness can be removed

by ion exchange.
It involves replacing Ca and Mg in water with another non-
hardness cation usually sodium. This exchange takes place at solid
interface .’ Zeolite’ which is naturally occuring Sodium Alumino
Silicate (Sio2 Al2O3Na2O) , material sometimes known as Green Sand.
Reactions takes place are
Ca + Anion + 2Na-R Ca +2Na + [Anion]
Mg Mg [R]

Ca R + 2NaCl Ca 2Cl +2Na-[R]

Mg Excess Mg
After regeneration system is ready to function once again.
HOW ION EXCHANGE WORKS?
ION EXCHANGE UNIT
 ADVANTAGES
 1) Water of zero hardness can be obtained
 2) Plant is compact , automatic and easy to operate.
 3) No sludge is formed.
 4) Running,maintainace and operation cost is less.
 5) It removes Fe and Mg from water.
 6) Skilled labour is not required.

DISADVANTAGES

1) Not suitable for treating highly turbide waters.

2) The process leaves behind sodium bicarbonate in water.
3) Process is costlier for removing Fe and Mg from water.
4) Bacteria growth in Zeolite beds is possible.
DEMINERALIZATION OR DE-IONIZATION
PROCESS
 Demineralization means removing minerals from water. De-mineralised water is also called
as deionized water. Such types of water is very suitable for industrial purposes especially
for boilers.
Complete removal of minerals present in water can be carried out by first passing
the water through a bed of cation exchange resins and through a bed of anion exchange
resins.
Reactions occuring are following

Ca(HCO3)2 + H2-R Ca-R + 2H2O + 2CO2

Fresh cation
exchange resin

CaCl2 + H2-R Ca-R + 2HCl

MgSO4 + H2-R Mg-R + H2SO4

2NaCl + H2-R Na2-R + 2HCl

The water coming out of cation exchange resin will now contain diluted Carbonic acid,
Hydraulic acid sulphuric acid etc and can be removed by passing water through anion
exchange resin.
 Chemicals reactions occuring are as follows

R-OH + HCl R-Cl + H2O

Fresh anion Exausted water
exchane resin resin

2R-OH + H2SO4 R2-SO4 + 2H2O

Fresh anion Exausted water
exchane resin resin

The water coming out of anion exchanger will be free from minerals.

REGENERATION OF CATION EXCHANGE RESIN

The exhausted cation exchange resins can be regenerated by treating them with Dil. HCl or H2SO4.

Reactions occuring are as follows

Ca Ca
Mg R + 2HCl H2-R + Mg Cl2
Na2 Na2
Exausted cation regenerated cation
Exchange resin exchange resin
Ca Ca
Mg R + H2SO4 H2-R + Mg SO4
Na2 Na2
Exausted cation regenerated cation
Exchange resin exchange resin

REGENERATION OF ANION EXCHANGE RESIN

The exhausted anion exchange resins can be similarly generated by treating with
sodium carbonate solution,
The reaction occuring are,

R-Cl + Na2Co3+ H2O 2R-OH +2Nacl+Co2+H2O

(Exhausted ( Regenerated anion
Anion exchange Exchange Resins)
Resins)
 *** University Questions ***

Q1. Explain process of lime soda softening

[may2014,5 marks]
Q2. Write a short note on
1) hardness[may 2014,5 marks]
Q3. Write a detailed note on demineralization
[Dec 2010, 5 marks]
Q4. Explain lime soda process with the help of
chemical equetions. [Dec 2009,6 marks]