What is a water softener?
A water softener is a whole-house filtration system that removes hardness-causing calcium and magnesium minerals from your water through a process called ion exchange. A water softener addresses one of the most prevalent and devastating water problems: hard water. Hard water wreaks havoc on the modern home. Scale builds up in your pipes, clogging them and decreasing water pressure. Scale dramatically shortens the lifespan of appliances like dishwashers, coffee makers and ice machines. Hard water destroys hot water appliances. The higher the temperature of the water, the more calcium and magnesium will solidify and harden into solid deposits inside your hot water heater. If you live in hard water territory, it can sound like your water heater is popping popcorn. This is because the scale has attached itself to the heating element. As the temperature of the heater rises and the tank expands, the calcified rock deposits crusted on the heating elements start cracking and stretching. Hard water-induced scale is the culprit of that popcorn popping sound.
Without a water softener, laundry demands extra detergent to prevent it from looking dingy. Dishes will come out of your dishwasher streaked and stained. Filmy scum builds up on your shower curtains and your soap and shampoo will not lather. Bathing in hard water leaves your skin itchy and dry and your hair lifeless and sticky. The sheer amount of time, energy, and money required to clean up the detrimental side effects of hard water is dizzying. A whole house water softener is the solution to the scourge of water hardness.
What Is Automatic Water Sofftener
Automatic water softener uses a mechanical process to remove ionic hardness from your household’s water.Automatic water softeners are used throughout the world for better skin, hair, and overall health. A typical Automatic water softener consists of a tall, narrow water-softener tank and a short, wide brine tank. The softener tank is connected to the home’s water-supply line and a small-diameter fill tube connects the brine tank to the softener tank. A discharge hose runs from the softener tank to a nearby drainpipe or drywell.
Automatic Water softener is a whole-house filtration system that removes hardness-causing calcium and magnesium minerals from your water through a process called ion exchange. It also replaces those minerals with sodium ions. An ion exchange unit for your water can reduce or eliminate the need for laundry detergent and soap, because soap works best in soft water.Automatic water softeners also address one of the most prevalent and devastating water problems.
What do water softeners remove?
Water softeners are designed to remove calcium and magnesium ions from hard water. Calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) are the two water hardness-causing minerals. The ion exchange process will furthermore attract and eliminate any positively charged ion (also known as a cation). This can include other minerals like iron and manganese.
Does a water softener remove iron?
Water softeners remove ferrous iron (dissolved iron) when it is in low quantities and most of the iron is in a soluble state. Iron darkens the coloration of water and leaves visible stains on your toilet, bathtub, and in your sinks. Ferric iron (insoluble iron) is more difficult to remove with a softener. Ferric iron will accumulate on the resin bed and resist the backwashing of the regeneration cycle. This can produce slugs of iron in your softened water and diminish the potency of the resin beads. When dissolved iron is exposed to oxygen, it oxidizes and becomes ferric iron. So, even though a water softener can remove iron in its dissolved state, if you have high iron levels in your water, some of it will inevitably convert to an insoluble state. If your water softener is processing large quantities of iron you will want to use a chemical solution like Rust Out to cleanse your softener bed and prolong your resin beads’ life. Iron is best removed from water by an iron filter or a more comprehensive filtration system like reverse osmosis.
How do you install a water softener?
A water softener should be installed as close to the water’s point of entry into the house as possible. This ensures the majority of your plumbing and appliances are reaping the benefits of carrying the softened water. It’s especially important to make sure your water softener is located before your water heater, as hard water does the greatest damage to hot water appliances. You will want to install the softener in a dry, level location, like a basement or garage. It will need to be close to the water’s main line, an electrical outlet to turn on the system, and a drain for the brine solution from the regeneration cycle.
Most softeners have a bypass built into the inlet and the outlet. By turning a valve, you can bypass the softener in the event you have to provide some kind of maintenance to it or even while you’re working on installing it. If the softener you choose does not have a bypass, then it’s wise to build one out of plumbing to bypass the equipment in case you need to maintain the unit.
Steps to installing your water softener:
- Position the water softener. Make sure that the softener is correctly positioned. The inlet should be connected to the water supply and the outlet should be facing the direction of the hot water appliances.
- Turn off the water supply to your house at the main line. To prevent leaks from springing during the installation process, shut off the water supply to your home. Make sure your water heater’s water supply is turned off, as is the electricity running to the unit.
- Drain your pipes. Open nearby faucets or faucets on the bottom floor of your home to ensure all water exits your house’s supply pipes.
- Cut into the water supply main line. Using pipe cutters, cut into the water main leading into the supply line. This is a whole house filtration unit, so you need to connect the inlet and outlet lines directly to the water main line.
- Measure, cut, and connect the pipes. Before attaching any pipes to your water softener, measure and cut your pipes to fit. If you are using copper pipes, solder on any nipples and fittings before connecting the unit to the bypass valve to avoid melting the plastic. Seal all threads with plumber’s tape. Plastic tubing like PEX can also be used. Though it may require additional adapters, flexible tubing is far easier to work with and can utilize push-to-connect fittings, saving you time and the hassle of soldering.
- Clamp the drain hose. The water softener needs to drain the depleted brine solution after the regeneration cycle. Clamp the drain hose securely and feed it into the dedicated drain, like a floor drain or utility sink. To prevent the hose back siphoning waste water, all drain hoses must have an air gap. The end of the hose be at least two inches above the dedicated drain. An air gap may be used to achieve this, and may be required depending on local plumbing codes.
- Connect the overflow tube. Overflow tubes are an additional precaution ensuring the brine tank does not flood and overflow. Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions for specific placement of this hose. The overflow tub may also require an air gap.
