How Do Water Softeners Work? – Water Softener Installation

So, what is a water softener? Isn’t water already soft? Fair point but water softeners are here to combat the common issue of hard water. A U.S. geological survey found that about 85% of households had hard water. But what is hard water? What can be done about it?

“Hard water” put simply means a household’s water contains high levels of dissolved minerals. Magnesium and calcium do not make for healthy drinking water but are also undetectable through smell and taste.

The issues from raised mineral levels are varying from annoying to destructive. From cloudy water spots on sinks and dishes to the white crusty bits in kettles. All of this adds up to grey faded clothes, dry itchy skin, and limp looking hair. All annoying and irritating but not as harmful as the effects on your plumbing systems.

Water running through supply pipes and out various outlets leave behind the crusty mineral deposits; although they begin as harmless the build-up over time means clogged pipes.

But what is a water softener?

Water softeners consist of 2 tanks – one softening tank and the other for brine. The first tank is connected to your home water supply and a small pipe connects the two tanks with a discharge hose running from the softener tank for wastewater. The main softener tank is filled with resin beads

Water in the water-softener tank saturates through the resin beads. The negatively charged resin attracts the minerals in the water that are positively charged. These cling to the resin and so the softened water exits and flows through our taps. But an eye needs to be kept on the resin tank as they become overworked and will then need to be cleaned. A computer calculates the water flowing through and once it reaches a certain setting the cleaning begins.

Salty water in the brine tank flows up and fills the tube into the softener tank. This salty water washes the mineral deposits off the resin beads, and all this goes out the waste pipe meaning a whole system renewed.

However, water softeners have created a new problem. By discharging water, it has begun to cause a rise in sodium levels in treatment plants. This, in turn, has led to some cities and regions restricting the use of water softeners.