What is soft water?
Water that contains no or a small amount of soluble calcium and magnesium compounds is called soft water. Soap for soft water is not easy to scum, while hard water is the opposite. Natural soft water generally refers to rivers, rivers and lakes (freshwater lakes). Softening hard water refers to softened water obtained after the contents of calcium salt and magnesium salt are reduced to1.0 ~ 50 mg/L. Although temporary hard water can be turned into soft water by boiling, it is extremely uneconomical to treat a large amount of water in industry by this method.
In daily life, we often see that the inner wall of the kettle will have scale when used for a long time. This is because the water we use contains many inorganic salts, such as calcium salt and magnesium salt. These salts are invisible to the naked eye in water at room temperature. Once they are heated and boiled, many calcium and magnesium salts precipitate in the form of carbonate, and they attach to the wall of the pot to form scale. We usually call the content of calcium and magnesium ions in water "hardness". The hardness of 1 degree is equivalent to 10 mg of calcium oxide per liter of water. Water below 8 degrees is called soft water, water above 17 degrees is called hard water, and water between 8- 17 degrees is called moderately hard water. Rain, snow, rivers, rivers and lakes are all soft water, while spring water, deep well water and seawater are all hard water.
Some water with high calcium and magnesium ions does not produce scale. This is because these calcium and magnesium ions exist in the form of chloride salts, and they are soluble, so they cannot precipitate when heated.
The hardness of water has a great influence on daily life. When the hardness of water is high, washing clothes does not bubble; Living in a different place may lead to acclimatization because of the hardness of drinking water; Scaling in the pot will reduce the thermal conductivity of the pot; The scale of industrial boilers can cause explosion accidents. Therefore, the hardness of domestic water and industrial water should be properly controlled. Generally speaking, soft water is mostly used in life, such as bathing and washing clothes. It's not for drinking. There are too few minerals.
function
Soft water can thoroughly remove dirt in skin cells, delay skin aging, and make cleaned skin tension-free and glossy. Because soft water is rich in organic minerals and has strong detergency, it can achieve 100% makeup removal effect with only a small amount of makeup removal, so soft water is a necessity for beauty lovers. Soft water for regular bathing can help you relieve the distress of dry skin, tinea and dandruff, and restore normal elastic skin. Soap, detergent, friction, wood, leather, irritating seasoning bacteria, dry air, etc. cause skin inflammation. When eczema or chapped hands and feet appear, if washed with soft water, eczema can be eliminated, chapped hands and feet can be healed, and soft and shiny hands and feet can be restored.
Soft water can also effectively inhibit fungi. When skin injury, frostbite, burn and other accidents occur, wash the affected area with soft water first, and then soak it with absorbent cotton, gauze, towel, etc. Gently rubbing the affected area with soft water can quickly heal the wound and make the edema caused by burns disappear immediately. This is because soft water can promote the regeneration of cell tissue. Frequent use of soft water to wash your hair can make your hair soft and elegant, remove dandruff and relieve itching, and make your hair naturally shiny.
Benefits of using soft water at home:
Kitchen: tableware and porcelain are as clean as new, with no traces of water stains; Reduce the use of washing products by 53%, which is greatly beneficial to environmental protection and reduces the kitchen cleaning time by 50%.
Hygiene: Toilets, sinks and bathtubs are no longer yellow and dirty, resulting in peculiar smell. There is no white dirt in the small holes of the shower, and the water flow is unimpeded.
Laundry: clothes are soft, clean and have new colors. The washing frequency of clothing fiber is increased by 33%, and the amount of washing powder is reduced by 55%, which reduces the maintenance problems caused by the use of hard water in water equipment such as washing machines.
Equipment: the maintenance times of wall-hung boiler or water heater are greatly reduced, the service life of water heater is more than doubled, the gas electricity fee of water heater is reduced by 29% ~ 32%, and the water pipes installed in the interior walls of the home are not scaling or blocked.
distinguish
The method of distinguishing hard water from soft water:
Methods 1: Take equal amounts of water samples from two beakers respectively. Drop the same amount of soapy water into two beakers respectively. Soft water with more foam and less scum. On the contrary, hard water has less foam and more scum.
Method 2: You can also use a beaker to heat it, and it is hard water that leaves more scale on the cup wall. Because hard water is water containing more soluble calcium and magnesium substances, these soluble calcium and magnesium substances are transformed into insoluble substances after heating, and hard water is water with more precipitated impurities. The more impurities, the greater the hardness of water.
Method 3: Take a clean and dry piece of glass. Drop equal amounts of water samples at different locations. After complete evaporation, most of the white residue is hard water, and vice versa.