Avanale Water Solutions — Softener Sizing Report
6/45 Canberra Street, Hemmant QLD 4174 • phil@avanale.com.au • www.avanale.com.au
Preliminary projection only. This is a sizing projection, not a final design or a quotation. The figures are calculated from manufacturer data sheets and the water and duty details you entered; they assume a representative water analysis and correct installation and commissioning, which this tool cannot verify. Any proposed design must be reviewed and confirmed in writing by Avanale Water Solutions, against a current water analysis, before purchase or installation. Avanale Water Solutions accepts no responsibility for equipment selected or results produced using this tool.
Alternative Configurations
Larger flows can be met with multiple smaller vessels in parallel. Flow splits evenly across vessels in service; only one regenerates at a time.
Design Basis
Resin: AKUALITE® C107E gel strong-acid cation resin, total capacity 1.90 eq/L. Operating capacity per salt dose (g CaCO₃/L resin): 80 g/L → 45 · 100 g/L → 50 · 125 g/L → 55 · 160 g/L → 62 · 200 g/L → 66, with a 90% design factor applied. Service velocity 10–25 m/h, minimum bed depth 0.6 m per resin datasheet. Vessel service flows per Avanale selection practice — recommended averages only. Backwash is calculated from first principles: 8–12 m/h upflow across the vessel cross-section to fluidise the bed (~50% expansion per the AKUALITE® C107E expansion curves); the required rate is temperature-dependent and the final setting must be made on site. Brine capacity sized to hold ≥4 L per kg of salt per regeneration. Technology limits: high hardness (above 600 mg/L) is flagged for salt-use economics — softening remains the correct technology. TDS is optional: when entered, a capacity correction is applied (operating capacity multiplied by a factor that falls as feed TDS rises, reflecting the less favourable sodium/hardness equilibrium — this flows through to resin volume and regeneration frequency, following the approach used by established design software such as DuPont WAVE / DOWEX capacity-correction-for-feed-TDS curves). When TDS is left blank, no correction is applied and the report states so. Refer to resin datasheet for confirmation of the correction at elevated TDS. TDS is additionally flagged above 1,200 mg/L (increased leakage) and softening is not recommended above 3,000 mg/L TDS, where the resin's preference shifts to sodium over hardness ions and soft-water quality becomes unreliable. Iron: only dissolved clear-water Fe²⁺ is softener duty — ferric (Fe³⁺), organic or colloidal iron must be removed upstream. Fe²⁺ is exchanged like hardness and added to the capacity load at ≈1.8 mg/L as CaCO₃ per mg/L Fe. Design maximum 3–5 mg/L with more frequent regeneration/backwash and resin cleaner dosing; site testing may show higher levels can be achieved, but this should be proven before being relied upon.