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How does a water softener work? Hard water enters the softener through the control valve and passes down through the resin bed. Calcium and magnesium have a strong attraction to the negatively-charged resin beads and become attached to them. Eventually, the majority of resin particles will pair with the strongly charged magnesium and calcium particles. At that point, hard water bearing more of these elements passes through the softener unaffected. It’s therefore necessary to periodically replenish the salt originally present on the resin beads and dispose of the hardness-causing minerals removed from the water. This is usually a four-step process called regeneration. 1st Stage: Backwash is the first step. Water flows through the unit in reverse, cleaning the resin. 2nd Stage: The short backwash cycle is followed by the brine rinse cycle, where salt-laden water slowly passes through the resin to replace hardness-causing ions with sodium ions. The overwhelmed hardness ions are driven all and washed down the drain. 3rd Stage: Next, the fast rinse cycle flushes the bed with raw water to remove the chlorides (salt brine and sodium chloride) and excess sodium. 4th Stage: The last cycle is for brine tank refilling. Three pounds of salt are dissolved in every gallon of brine tank water for use during the next regeneration. The control valve then returns to the service position, making softened water available on demand. What is a carbon filter, and do I need one?
What kind of water softener should I use? When installing softeners, we recommend you don’t use systems with top screens or strainers on the inlets. Iron particles oxidized on the bed can accumulate and clog screen openings. Hard water deposits can also build around screen openings and cause pressure drops. What type of salt is best to use? Rock salt usually has a lot of dirt in it. Pellet salt can mush. We recommend solar salt. It is cleaner than most other salts and is generally less expensive. Also, block salt or potassium chloride can be used, but are generally more expensive. What type of maintenance is involved with a water softener? It is important to place the water softener bypass when a well is being treated with chlorine. High chlorine levels will ruin the resin and anything discharged from the well after shock treatments would coat resin and could be harmful. To disinfect the water softener, put some unscented household bleach into the brine solution in the salt container. Manually place unit into "regeneration mode". Periodically, you will want to check the time settings so it is on the right time of day. There should be a 2-hour difference in time between the softener and carbon filter. How do I clean my water softener? Occasional chemical cleaning of resin may be needed, but chlorine shouldn’t be used for this purpose. Acid usually works better, but make sure you are extremely careful when using acid. Non-toxic cleaners, like salt additives and chemicals fed into the brine tank as a preventive maintenance measure, usually can’t clean a badly fouled unit. Potassium permanganate is a good oxidizing agent that usually precipitates iron in larger particles than chlorine. Greensand media, which is a type of resin used on iron systems, is also used to. It can fail, however, where tannins, heavy sulfur, low pH, or high flow conditions exist. Greensand usually requires regeneration with potassium permanganate, which is messy and potentially toxic.
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