Chuck Wight, a chemistry professor at the University of Utah, provides the following explanation:A typical water-softening system removes calcium and magnesium ions from hard water and replaces them with sodium ions. Calcium and magnesium ions interfere with the action of household soaps and detergents, but sodium does not.
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How do water softeners work?
How Much Water Do Nations Consume?
To find out, engineers Arjen Hoekstra and Mesfin Mekonnen at the University of Twente in the Netherlands calculated the water footprint of the world’s countries as well as per capita water consumption in those nations.
Overall, the world is using 9,087 billion cubic meters of water per year. China, India and the U.S. consumed the highest annual totals: 1,207 billion, 1,182 billion and 1,053 billion cubic meters, respectively, followed by Brazil at 482 billion. But the water consumed per person in these and other countries varies considerably, due primarily to higher living standards or widespread waste among consumers. The U.S. had the world’s highest per capita water footprint, at 2,842 cubic meters per annum. Read more
Climate Change Hits Cities
Like many cities in the developing world, Indore’s water infrastructure and institutions face the mounting pressures of population and growth and urbanization. Experts worry that global warming will compound these problems, enlarging a category of people they call the “water poor.”
To better understand the complexity of urban water systems in less developed nations, the Pacific Institute and the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition released a detailed analysis last week on the water situation in Indore. The three-year study involved downscaling climate models to the city level, performing a vulnerability analysis, and engaging with the community to come up with resilience strategies. Read more
Moon Water Differs from Earth Water
Harmful Algal Blooms Increase as Lake Water Warms
The warming waters of one of central Europe’s most popular holiday destinations, Switzerland’s Lake Zurich, have created an ideal environment for a population explosion of algae including Planktothrix rubescens, a toxic cyanobacterium. It has the potential to harm humans, animals and the tourism that pumps up the economies of lake districts.
According to research published in leading scientific journals, Lake Zurich is by no means alone. Cyanobacteria now threaten the ecological well-being of some of the world’s largest water bodies, including Lake Victoria in Africa, Lake Erie in the United States and Canada, Lake Taihu in China, the Baltic Sea in northern Europe, and the Caspian Sea in west Asia. They’ve also been found in Lake Kokotel in eastern Siberia, which is next to Lake Baikal, the world’s largest, deepest and most ancient freshwater lake. Baikal contains 20 percent of the world’s total unfrozen freshwater reserve. Read more