Maintaining your
Water Softening Unit
To maintain a water softener, you basically need to restock the
salt supply for the brine solution. Salt is purchased in the form of
pellets, granules or blocks. If you own a manual or semiautomatic
water softening system, you will also need to start the recharging
cycle.
You may need to occasionally clean the brine tank. The frequency of
cleaning is dependent upon the salt that is used in the softening
process. You should also check, and clean, if necessary, the brine
valve and float assembly.
A water softening system can be hindered by the existence of excess
iron or hydrogen sulfide in the unit. The results of a water test
will determine whether you need to install the correct pre-softening
treatment equipment.
If you have a buildup of iron, you made need to backwash or reverse
the normal flow of water through the treatment unit more often.
Regular maintenance must be done with salt based water softening
systems because the sodium or potassium ions are replaced by calcium
and magnesium. In order for the ion exchange process to work
properly, the resin must be regenerated.
If you have a water softener such as the SafeWater softening system,
you will not need to perform any maintenance procedures. The reason
for this is that the tough, resistant alloy totally eliminates the
need for maintenance of the water softening system. With this type
of system, there is no need to install a bypass around the unit
because water that is treated by this process is safe for any use.
For a typical water softening system, the water softening unit must
be recharged when the resin is up to its capacity. A time clock is
generally used for starting the regeneration process. However some
units may be started with water use meters or hardness detectors.
The semi-automatic softeners have automatic controls for everything
with the exception of controls to start the regeneration process.
The manual systems require manual functions of the valves to control
the backwashing, brining and rinsing processes. If you are able to
purchase the unit and services of a water softening company, the
company will install a softening unit and replace it occasionally
with a freshly charged unit.
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