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IS YOUR SODIUM ZEOLITE WATER SOFTENER RESIN IN

GOOD CONDITION?
IF YOU DON’T KNOW, IT COULD BE COSTING YOU MORE TO
OPERATE BY WASTING WATER AND SALT.

If you own, operate, rent or have a service agreement for a sodium zeolite ion exchange water softener,
whether it’s a small residential softener, a moderately sized institutional or commercial softener or even
if it is a large industrial water softener, the condition of the resin is important.
Resin that is in poor condition could be wasting money, water and salt.

Sodium Zeolite Ion Exchange water softeners are Ask yourself these questions.
among the most common and widely used type of
If you have a timed regenerating softener,
ion exchange water softener. They are used in
what is the anticipated capacity, not the
residential applications as well as institutionally and
time, at which it is scheduled to
commercially, such as in schools, hospitals, nursing
regenerate?
homes, apartment buildings, office building and
If you have an on-demand regenerated
other similar businesses. They are commonly used to
softener, what is the gallon capacity setting
supply soft potable water but are also used in
which it is programmed to regenerate?
industrial applications to supply soft water used for
What is the design capacity in grains of
boilers, cooling towers and various manufacturing
hardness for your softener?
processes.
Based on the hardness of your water supply
In sodium zeolite softeners, water containing scale- in grains per gallon, how many gallons of
forming calcium and magnesium hardness ions soft water can your water softener produce
passes through a bed containing resin. As the water before regeneration is required?
passes through the bed of resin, the hardness ions How does your softeners actual capacity
are exchanged with sodium (salt) ions. The hardness compare to its design capacity?
ions remain in the resin bed and soft water is How old is your water softener?
produced as a result. As more and more sodium ions Has the resin in your water softener ever
are exchanged for hardness ions, the resin bed is been replaced or chemically cleaned?
depleted and eventually requires regeneration to
If you can’t readily answer each of these questions it
restore its water softening capabilities.
may be of value to you to do a bit of investigation to
The point at which your softener requires find out the answers.
regeneration depends on its design capacity
If it is found that the softener is not performing as
(capacity to remove hardness measured in grains)
well as it should regarding its capacity, there may be
and the quality or degree of hardness of the water as
a number of reasons. When considering the many
grains per gallon supplied to it.
possible reasons for a loss in capacity, one reason
Sodium Zeolite Softeners, once installed, are sometimes overlooked is potentially degraded or
generally thought of as requiring little or no damaged softener resin beads.
attention other than making sure the tank is full of Figure 1: Sodium Zeolite Softener Resin
salt. This is true for the most part, at least initially,
but this thought builds complacency and condition
issues can arise in as little as a few years which can
impact the performance and efficiency of the
softener. This can be particularly wasteful and
costly regarding the operation of softeners.
The condition of zeolite softener resin can degrade Figure 2: New Resin at about 40X magnification
to varying degrees due to a number of factors which
may include but are not limited to…
The age and normal use of the resin.
The designed capacity and flow of the
softener versus its actual flow and set
capacity.
The temperature of supply water.
The degree of pressure fluctuations in the
supply water source.
The degree of constituents in the supply
water source such as iron, silica, and A microscopic analysis is performed in order to look
for signs of fouling, cracked or broken beads.
chlorine.
Incorrect regeneration. Incorrect backwash Figure 3 below shows severely fouled resin as well as
flow rate and duration, brine draw flow rate cracked and broken beads. The softener that these
and concentration, slow and fast rinse flow beads were removed from was only capable to
rates and durations. softening about 60% of the volume of water it
otherwise could have if the beads were in like new
A number of various factors can degrade the
condition.
condition of sodium zeolite water softener resin,
thus impacting its capacity as well as efficiency and Figure 3: Used Resin at about 40X magnification
cost to operate.

The condition of sodium zeolite softener resin used

in residential, potable, institutional, commercial and
industrial applications is sometimes overlooked.

Softener resin is sampled for analysis and various

methods of analysis are employed to determine the
condition of the resin. These methods to determine
the condition of the resin can include…

Microscopic analysis to reveal fouled,

cracked or broken beads.
Analysis of the physical properties of the
resin to determine such things as density or
moisture content of the beads.
Analysis to determine the degree of any
mineral, organic or inorganic fouling.
Tests to indicate the total capacity of the
resin.
Figure 2 shows a sample of new, unused resin. Note
that some of the resin beads seem to exhibit some
degradation while in storage before use but it is not
uncommon for there to be some small number of
cracked or broken beads, even in new resin.
If broken beads accumulate in the resin bed,
otherwise flushed adequately from the bed during
backwashing, accumulation can result in channeling
of water flow through the resin bed and increased
pressure drop across the resin bed which will affect
the capacity of the softener.
Beads do crack and break just from normal wear and
tear during use. It is important to note that cracked
and broken beads function acceptably in the
softening process but they will degrade performance
of the softener due to channeling and pressure drop.
If the occurrence of cracking is more than normally
expected for the system, inspect for causes of beads
cracking such as osmotic shock, excessive operating
pressures or excessive temperatures or changes in
temperature. Also, crack beads are more likely to
become broken in the future so it is worthwhile to
gain an appreciation for any cracking that seems
excessive and understand any factors that could be
contributing to the occurrence.
Another method of analysis, the moisture content of
the resin is tested to determine its water holding
capacity. It is also a measure of the resins tendency
to swell. Analysis of the moisture content of used
resin needs to be compared with the specifications
of the same, new resin to determine if it is within
specifications. An increase of the moisture content
in the resin is an indication of oxidation occurring.
This also means that the resin tends to become soft
and swell, which leads to pressure drop and
channeling within the resin bed. This will affect the
capacity of the resin. Chlorine in the water supply
will also promote premature degradation of some
resin beads and thus increase the moisture content.
Although resin life is difficult to predict, the degree
of acceptable degradation may be disputed and
many factors may affect the perceived life
expectancy, it seems a relatively common statement
among resin manufacturers that the average life
expectancy of cation resin used in sodium zeolite ion
exchanger water softeners may be in the range of 5
to 10 years.
Moderate to large sized institutional, commercial or
industrial systems may benefit most from evaluation
of the actual capacity of their softener resin against
its design capacity. The potential for degraded resin
should be considered along with all other possible
causes for reduced capacity.
Furthermore, it is common for relatively large or
more complex systems to analyze the condition of
the resin annually to determine its condition as well
as to gauge its rate of degradation in order to predict
the life expectancy or when the degree of
degradation may warrant cleaning or replacement of
the resin. In many cases the cost to perform the
analysis of the resin is minimal and easily justified.
Additionally, entire softeners have been replaced
when only resin replacement, at a fraction of the
cost of a new softener, was required.
These a just a few of the many factors to consider
regarding a sodium zeolite ion exchange water
softener that is suspected to have experienced a loss
in capacity.
It is recommended that you be highly experienced
and knowledgeable regarding water softeners or
contact a reputable professional installer or water
treatment contractor to assist in the evaluation of
your softener to determine if analysis of the resin is
warranted. Laboratories performing the bead
analysis generally provide observations and results
of the analysis and give recommendations regarding
actions to take specific to the condition of the resin
tested.

Know your system. If the condition of your softener resin has degraded, its capacity could be
reduced, increasing the costs of operation, water and salt usage.
Reduced capacity also has the potential to increase sodium discharged to wastewater treatment
plants and the environment.

By Robert Jewell Robert has 30 years of career experience in industrial utilities. He specializes in and has extensive
experience in the operation and management of steam plants, central plants, cooling and
refrigeration systems, potable (drinking) water systems, water treatment, wastewater treatment,
and facility management.
He is an advocate of water conservation, energy conservation and protecting our environment while
also incorporating those advocacies into sustainable water and energy efficiency activities and
programs that positively impact the organization and local community by finding efficiency and
savings in existing processes and procedures through creative solutions.
Connect with Robert on Linkedin at http://www.linkedin.com/pub/bob-jewell/26/810/32a