Salt

the common name for the specific chemical sodium chloride, used in regeneration of ion exchange water softeners.

Definitioner

Sodium Chloride: the chemical name for common salt, used in regeneration.
Sodium: an ion found in natural water supplies, and introduced to water in the ion exchange water softening process.
Regeneration: in general, includes the backwash, brine, and fresh water rinse steps, necessary to prepare a water softener exchange bed for service after exhaustion. Specifically, the term may be applied to the 'brine' step in which the sodium chloride solution is passed through the exchanger bed. The term may also be used for similar operations relating to the demineralizers and certain filters.
Ion Exchange: a reversible process in which ions are released from an insoluble permanent material in exchange for other ions in a surrounding solution; the direction of the exchange depends depends on the affinities of the ion exchanger for the ions present, and the concentrations of the ions in the solution.
Ion: an atom, or group of atoms which function as a unit, and has a positive or negative electrical charge, due to the gain or loss of of one or more electrons.