Process and apparatus for water softening

摘要

The invention relates to a process for the regeneration of the ion exchanger of a water-softening unit by means of an electrolyte, to a process for disposal of the water which arises during regeneration and which is enriched with substances causing hardness, in washing machines and dishwashers, and to an apparatus for carrying out the process. In the known processes and apparatuses, the regeneration of the ion exchanger takes place by means of an electrolyte, e.g. common salt, to be added. This is uneconomical and pollutes the waste water. These problems are solved by the electrolyte being produced by an electrochemical reaction in the process water of the water softening unit. The disposal, in washing machines and dishwashers, of the water enriched with substances causing hardness is expediently effected by the substances causing hardness being removed from the water fed in the programme steps of the operating programmes in which the wash or rinse process requires water without substances causing hardness and the water enriched with substances causing hardness being added back into the process steps in which the causers of hardness are harmless.