If you're looking for better water quality, lower use of regenerant chemicals and minimum waste water, then the Countercurrent Ion Exchange process using a Packed Bed Vessel is the process of choice.

Down flow Service/Up flow Regeneration

Over 40 years of operating experience in Europe with over 4,000 installations has proven this technique to be the best. Down flow service maintains the packed bed during the service cycle. Up flow regeneration provides a highly regenerated resin to contact the process flow as it exits the unit producing the best effluent quality achievable.

Better Water Quality

The highly regenerated band of resin closest to the outlet of the unit provides consistent near Mixed Bed quality water. Packed beds have a TDS removal efficiency of >99.9% vs about 95% for RO. Packed bed conductivity can be as low as 0.5 microsiemens per cm and SiO2 of <20 ppb, so in some cases Mixed Beds or Polishers can be eliminated. RO will always require Mixed Beds or polishing RO to give comparable quality. If polishers are needed, Packed Beds can increase their cycle times by more than 5 times compared to conventional ion exchange and over 10 times vs RO.

Lowest Chemical Consumption

The use of the countercurrent regeneration technique along with a Packed Bed of resin will provide for highly efficient regeneration as compared to conventional ion-exchange techniques. The chemicals are reduced to as little as 110%-120% of stoicheometric vs 200%-220% for conventional ion exchange columns.

Minimum Waste Volume/ High Water Recovery

Efficient use of chemicals with proper distribution and collection systems reduce displacement and rinse water requirements. Final rinse recycle techniques are employed to increase overall system recovery. No backwash water required reduces the waste generated to as low as 2% of the total water treated, significantly lower than the 10% average for conventional ion-exchange systems and 25% waste water for RO systems.