How does an Ion Exchange water softener work?
Glad you asked. The unit is filled with a special resin that looks like plastic beads. The beads are specially formulated to attract cations (remember those positively charged ions that are responsible for “hard” water). As the water flows through the system, the cations within the water cling to the beads. So, the water that has been filtered through the system and eventually comes out the other end of the water softener is “soft” because the “hard” ions have been removed. After a while, the beads become saturated with all this ionic junk. But, there is one thing that the beads like better than cations, and that’s sodium (salt)! So, bring on the brine (concentrated salt-water) backwash. The backwash takes place by suspending the flow of water through the unit and “washing” the beads to remove the cations. The brine displaces all the cations that are loosely held by the resin. Now the resin is regenerated and ready to tackle the water again, just like new! End of science class! What do
