Question

What would be the advantage and disadvantage of placing softening before cascade aeration?

Answer 1

I used this website ( http://www.aquatechnology.net/softenerproandcon.html) and ( http://www.mrwa.com/OP-Iron%20and%20Manganese.pdf) cut and paste what coulda woulda shoulda be the answer maybe!
Water containing more than 0.3 mg/l of iron will cause yellow to reddish-brown stains
of plumbing fixtures or almost anything that it contacts. If the concentration exceeds 1 mg/l, the
taste of the water will be metallic and the water may be turbid. Ion exchange by a home softener may remove iron and manganese. If the water has not been exposed to oxygen, the resins in the softener will remove the iron and manganese ions from the
water. If the water treated contains any dissolved oxygen, the resin can be fouled with iron and
manganese deposits. The resin can be cleaned, but the process is expensive and the capacity of
this resin is reduced with each cleaning. This method is not recommended for municipal
treatment.
A typical water softener softens water by ion exchange, which involves the exchange of the hardness minerals (chiefly calcium and magnesium) for sodium or potassium minerals. The exchange takes place by passing water containing hardness minerals over ion exchange resins in a tank.
As the calcium and magnesium contact the resin in their travel through the tank, they displace sodium or potassium ions. The displaced sodium or potassium ions pass downward through the resin “bed” and out the softener drain; thus, the softener delivers “soft” water (Paso Robles 2003). Therefore, a softener merely exchanges one group of non-toxic elements for another group of non-toxic elements


One of the disadvantages of soft water is that it is neither healthy nor desirable for drinking. Since water is a universal solvent, most materials, especially metals, are partially soluble in water.
Therefore, if water is heated or softened it becomes much more aggressive at leaching metals from water lines. Lead in soldered joints and copper in pipes and faucets are particularly vulnerable, and these are two of the heavy metals that shouldn't be present in significant amounts in your drinking water.