WATER SOFTENING

The water to be supplied to the public should not be very hard though there is fear of no
health hazard, but it is undesirable as it leads to the following economic disadvantages:
It affects the working of dyeing system and leads to the modification of some of the
colours
 It causes corrosion and incrustation of pipes and plumbing fixtures
 It causes more consumption of soap in laundry work and hence, proves to be
uneconomical for washing processes of textile industries
 It makes food tasteless, tough or rubbery.
 It provides scales on the boilers and other hot-water heating systems.

It is necessary to understand why soap does not form lather with hard water. The
ordinary soap consists mainly of sodium or potassium salts of some of the organic acids
which are present in fats and fatty oils. Let us suppose that soap is made from sodium and
palmitic acid. It will then be the compound sodium palmitate (C15H31COONa)
When soap is treated with soft water, it is hydrolysed into caustic soda and palmitic acid.
The acid thus liberated unites with a second molecule of the sodium palmitate (soap) and
it forms an insoluble substance which, with water, produces the lather.
When soap is treated with hard water, the soluble Ca and Mg salts, present in hard water,
react with sodium palmitate forming insoluble Ca and Mg palmitates and they appear as a
white precipitate. This process of precipitation and consequent wastage of soap will go
on till the whole amount of soluble Ca and Mg salts present in hard water is converted
into insoluble Ca and Mg palmitates. The waste now becomes soft and will easily form
lather with soap.
The hard water is therefore to be softened by some suitable method before it is supplied
for consumption. For potable water, it is desirable to bring down the hardness of water to
about 5 to 8 degrees. The water having hardness of about 5 degrees is reasonably soft
water. But it is found to be tasteless. The water having hardness more than 8 degrees
gives undesirable effects as mentioned above:
Following are the advantages of soft water
 It improves the taste of foods
 It increases the life of textiles which are frequently sent to the laundries
 It leads to overall cleanliness because of the fact that personal washing and
domestic cleansing are much more efficient and less laborious with soft water
than with hard water
 It makes washing and cleansing easy
 It results in saving of labour, soap and other detergents
 The hard water, however, possesses the following two advantages over the soft
water
 It is not desirable to have very soft water for the purpose of drinking because
some quantities of calcium salts are required for the growth of the human body,
especially in the case of children
 The soft water dissolves lead much more readily than the hard water and hence,
there is less chance of lead poisoning with hard water than with soft water.

Types of hardness
Following are the two types of hardness
1. Temporary hardness
2. Permanent hardness
The former is also known as carbonate hardness and it is mainly due to the presence of
bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium
The latter is also known as non-carbonate hardness and it is mainly due to the presence of
sulphates, chlorides and nitrates of calcium and magnesium.

Removal of temporary hardness

The temporary hardness of water can be removed either by boiling or by adding lime.
The calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate are insoluble in water. They can,
therefore, be easily removed in the sedimentation tanks. The boiling of water on a large
scale is impracticable and uneconomical. Hence, addition of lime is preferred to boiling
for the removal of temporary hardness.
Removal of permanent hardness
The permanent hardness cannot be removed easily from water. Special treatment, known
as water softening treatment, is to be given to water for the removal permanent hardness
from it.
Following are the three methods adopted for the removal of permanent hardness from
water
1. Lime-soda process
2. Zeolite process
3. Demineralization process

Lime-soda process
In this process, lime and sodium carbonate or soda ash are used to remove permanent
hardness from water. The hardness id brought down to the level of 3 to 4 degrees.
The compounds calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide are insoluble in water and
they can, therefore be arrested in the sedimentation tanks. The other compounds formed
during the chemical reactions are soluble in water and they do not impart the property of
hardness to water.
Equipment required
Following units of equipment are required for the working of lime-soda process
Feeding and mixing apparatus
The feeding and mixing of lime and soda ash with water should be done with precision.
The lime used in this process may be quick lime or hydrated lime. The former is
preferable for large plants as it is cheap and less bulky. The required quantities of both
these chemicals should be accurately worked out either volumetrically or gravimetrically.
Settling tank
This tank is similar to coagulation sedimentation tank as adopted in case of rapid sand
filters. But in this case, the detention period of tank is longer
Recarbonation plant
It is necessary to remove calcium carbonate formed in this process. Otherwise it will
precipitate in sand filters and also cause incrustation in pipes. For this reason, the water
is allowed to pass through a Recarbonation plant after it has passed through the settling
tank. In the settling tank, a dose of alum may be given which will produce carbon
dioxide. This carbon dioxide reacts with calcium carbonate and helps to hold it in
solution as bicarbonate.
Alternatively, the carbon dioxide gas may be diffused or blown into water in the
recarbonation plant.
Filters
This unit is required to finish up the treatment. The filters may be of ordinary type rapid
sand filter or pressure filter. If the stage of recarbonation does not preceed filtration, it
becomes essential to wash the filters frequently and it also results in the frequent
replacement of sand bed.
Methods adopted in lime-soda process
Following are some of the methods which are employed in the process of lime soda
process
Addition of aluminium compounds
In this method, aluminium compounds are added in water in addition to lime and soda
ash. The aluminium compounds coagulate finely divided particles. They also convert
soluble magnesium salts into insoluble magnesium aluminates which are then arrested
and removed in the settling tanks or filters.
Excess lime treatment
In this method, slightly more lime is added than necessary. The extra lime completely
precipitates magnesium. The soda ash then neutralizes the excess lime and it converts all
the alkalinity to sodium alkalinity
Recarbonation
In this method, the raw water is treated with excess lime and the excess lime is then
neutralized by the action of carbon dioxide.
Split method
In this method, a part of raw water is given excessive treatment and its degree of hardness
is lowered to the maximum possible extent. This excessively treated water is then added
to raw water to bring down the hardness of raw water. With the help of this method, it is
possible to save a considerable quantity of chemicals.
Sludge blanket filtration
In this method, advantage is taken of the sludge collected at the bottom of coagulation
sedimentation tank. The water is softened by filtration through this blanket of sludge.
Various devices making use of this process are found out. Two of such devices are as
follows:
1. Accelerator
2. Spiractor

Accelerator
The following figure shows the section of a typical water softening accelerator. The raw
water is mixed with chemicals in the central portion of the tank. The sludge which is
previously formed is not allowed to settle down. But it is kept in suspension by a mixing
fan attached to the bottom of a vertical rotating shaft. Thus the lower portion of tank is
occupied by gently moving sludge. The raw water along with the chemicals rises through
this sludge blanket and in doing so, it gets softened. The removal of sludge can be done
by sludge removal valve either continuously or intermittently. The water softening
accelerator is very compact unit and it combines flocculation, settling and sludge
removal. The detention period is also reduced to about one hour as compared to 3 to 4
hours in case of coagulation sedimentation tanks.
Spiractor
The following figure shows a spiractor. The tank is in the shape of an inverted conical
tank and one-half of its depth is filled with marble chips of size 0.10 mm to 0.20 mm.
The pipes for raw water and chemicals are placed at the bottom of the tank. The raw
water as well as chemicals re forced under pressure through nozzles in a tangential
direction. The raw water is thus forced upwards spirally. The softening of water is
achieved by this spiral motion of water. The velocity of flow is so adjusted that the
marble chips are kept in suspension only and not carried away by water. The calcium
carbonate precipitates and it accumulates around the marble chips. This increases the
size of marble chips and consequently, the volume occupied by them also increases. The
level of marble chips is maintained by periodical removal of marble chips from the
bottom and by adding new chips from the top. The marble chips which are removed can
be ground, washed and used again.

Following are the advantages of this device:

1. The detention period for the tank is only about 5 to 10 minutes
2. The wet sludge is not formed. But instead of it, crystalline and hard granules are
formed which area easy to handle
3. The tank combines flocculation, settling and sludge removal is one single unit
Advantages of lime-soda process
1. The pH value of water treated by this process is increased which results in
decrease in corrosion of the distribution system
2. When this process is adopted, less quantity of coagulant will be required.
3. There is removal of iron and manganese also to some extent
4. There is reduction of total mineral content of water
5. There is likelihood of killing pathogenic bacteria. This occurs when causticity
caused by calcium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide of 20 to 50 ppm is retained in
the treated water for a period of about 4 to 5 hours.
6. The process is economical
7. This process is most suitable for turbid and acidic waters where it will not be
possible to adopt zeolite process.
8. The process is easy and simple and it can be accommodated in the existing filter
plant of any water supply scheme

Disadvantages of lime-soda process

1. The large quantity of sludge formed during this process is to be disposed off by
some suitable method. It can either be discharged directly into river or stream or
municipal sewers or it can be used for raising the level of low-lying lands
2. The process requires skilled supervision for the successful working
3. If recarbonation is omitted, a thick layer of calcium carbonate will be deposited in
the filtering media, distribution pipes, etc.
4. The calcium carbonate is slightly soluble in water to the extent of about 0.03 gm
per litre. Hence, this process cannot produce water of zero hardness. But as water
of zero hardness is not required for public water supply, this disadvantage does
not prove to be serious.

Zeolite process:
This is also known as base-exchange or ion-exchange process. The zeolites are
compounds of aluminium, silica and soda. They have got the excellent property of
interchanging base. They may be obtained from nature or may be prepared synthetically.
The naturally available zeolite is green in colour and it is therefore known as green sand.
The exchange value of green sand is 7000 to 9000 gm of hardness per m3 of zeolite.
It was discovered in 1850 by J.T.Way that certain mineral constituents of the soil i.e.
hydrated silicates, possessed the property of base-exchange. He succeeded in preparing
base-exchange materials from solutions of sodium silicate and aluminium sulphates, but
he did not appreciate the reversibility of the process. In 1906, Gans and other German
chemists applied this discovery in practice and they prepared a synthetic hydrated silicate
of aluminium and sodium, known as ‘Permutit’. Since then, the process has steadily
advanced and at present, several groups of materials of different character and
manufacture having base-exchange properties are available.
The most common artificial zeolite is ‘permutit’. It is manufactured from feldspar, kaolin
clay and soda. These chemicals are mixed in the required proportion and then the
mixture is fused in a furnace. It is allowed to cool after attaining a certain degree of
fusing. The material thus formed is then crushed to form particles of diameter varying
from 0.25 mm to 0.50 mm. it is then washed to remove all alkalies and impurities.
Permutit is white in colour and its chemical formula is 2SiO2Al2O3 Na2O. The exchange
value of Permutit is 35000 to 41000 gm of harness per m3 of zeolite. When hard water
comes into contact with zeolite, calcium and magnesium are removed and sodium is
given in exchange. Thus, hard water is softened and its sodium content is increased.
After some interval of time, the sodium present in zeolite is exhausted. It is very easily
regenerated by passing a solution of salt through the zeolite.
Thus, an exchange occurs again and sodium of salt is taken by zeolite. This process is
known as the process of regeneration and in order to achieve the results as shown by the
above equations, the salt solution of required strength is prepared and it is allowed to
trickle down over the bed of zeolite for a period of about 8 to 10 hours. The bed is then
washed calcium chloride or magnesium chloride for a period of about half an hour orso.
The filter bed is then ready for use again.
Equipment required
The zeolite process is carried out in filters which are more or less similar to pressure type
filters except that the layer of sand is replaced by a layer of zeolite. The depth of zeolite
layer varies from 75 cm to 180 cm. The deeper the bed, the greater will be the capacity
of filter. The zeolite filters may be of downward flow type or of upward flow type. In
the former case, the hard water is admitted from top of zeolite layer. It passes through
zeolite bed and then through base material of gravel. The softened water is collected by
the under drainage system and discharged for use by the outlet pipe. In the latter case,
the reverse operations will take place. For a 75 cm deep bed of zeolite, the rate of flow is
about 6000 litres per hour per m2 of the filter area.

Advantages of zeolite process:

In this process, sludge is not formed. Hence, the problem of sludge disposal does not
arise.
1. The zeolite unit is compact in design
2. There is no problem of the deposition of a layer of calcium carbonate in the
distribution system.
3. This process reduces hardness of water to zero. This advantage has got particular
importance for the water to be used for boiler and certain textile industries.
4. The process is completely automatic and highly skilled labour is not required.
5. The process proves to be economical where salt is cheaply available.

Disadvantages of zeolite process

1. The zeolite process cannot be adopted for highly turbid water. The suspended
particles get deposited around zeolite particles and hence, cause obstruction to the
working of zeolite.
2. The zeolite process is unsuitable for water containing iron and manganese. This
is due to the fact that iron zeolite or manganese zeolite formed during chemical
reaction cannot be reconverted to sodium zeolite. The zeolite will thus be wasted
in such case.
3. When the ion-exchange capacity of the zeolite has been exhausted, it has to be
regenerated and at this time, it gives out a concentrated white stream of the
original contaminant.
Demineralization process
This process is also known as deionisation process. It is similar to the previous process.
But in this process, hydrogen is exchanged for metallic ions. The hard water is passed
through a bed of resin or carbonaceous material in the hydrogen form. The treated water
contains diluted carbonic acid, sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid. These acids can be
removed by mixing the treated water with the required proportion of alkaline water.
After some interval of time, the hydrogen content of the substance is exhausted. It is then
regenerated by passing a solution of suitable strength of sulphuric acid or hydrochloric
acid.
The equipment used in this process should be capable of resisting acidity and alkalinity.
The demineralization process is mainly used for preparing water to be used for the
industrial purposes.