Softening            Back to water treatment page


Softening is the process of removing Lime from water. Water that contains a high level of lime (150 mg/l CaCo3 or more) is described as "hard". Hard water causes lime scale to develop on boilers, hot water pipes, showers, kettles etc.


A water softener is used to remove lime from  water. The process uses a technique called ion-exchange. In this technique, lime (Calcium and Magnesium) from the water is taken up by a material called Resin in the water softener and swapped for Sodium.  The softened water has a reduced lime content and an increased Sodium content. Sodium does not cause scale. The system uses salt (sodium chloride) to regenerate itself .  


The EU directive for Sodium in drinking water is 200 mg/l. The amount of Sodium in the softened water is determined by the amount of lime in the untreated water.  Most softened waters contain sodium levels that are under the EU directive for drinking. Once you have had a water sample tested you can check if your softened water will be under the EU directive level of 200 mg/l for sodium. For those with high levels of Sodium in the drinking water, or for those who want to use the softened water for making baby feed, a secondary technique called Reverse Osmosis can be used for the drinking water only. 


Softeners come in different sizes. Our in-house water quality advisors will help you to choose the correct size for your requirement.