Description
This is a continuation-in-part application of prior pending application Ser. No. 350,879 filed Apr. 13, 1973, now abandoned.
The present invention lies in the area of reconstituting exhausted zeolite softeners which are used in water softening. So-called zeolite softening is well known as, for example, in the chapter of the same name in the Betz Handbook of Industrial Water Conditioning, 6th Edition, 1962. The constitution of such columns is sometimes denoted by the symbol Na2 Z for sodium zeolite and the water softening is an exchange of cations between sodium and the alkaline earth metals; namely, calcium, magnesium, etc. The removal of the calcium and magnesium values from the downstream side of the sodium zeolite softener removes the so-called hardness from the water and allows applicability of the downstream water to such sensitive embodiments as boilers. From time to time as the sodium zeolite columns become exhausted due to accumulation of hardness on the zeolite beds, it is necessary to rehabilitate or regenerate the sodium zeolite softener; i.e., to restore the zeolite to the sodium form.