You might be wondering what a water softener is, what it does, or how it works.
In all likelihood, the water that’s coming out of your taps is hard water, which is riddled with large amounts of elements like calcium, magnesium and iron ions. These extra ions will cause unwanted stains on your kitchen sink and bath tubs and even cause dry skin. On the other hand, soft water is water with none of the ions mentioned. Soft water is a lot healthier than hard water and can have several benefits. To turn hard water into soft water, you are going to have to use water softener units.
So, how does a water softener work?
The first process involved in water softening is to let water pass through the resin bed found on top of the water softener unit. The resin bed is packed with negatively charged sodium ions, which replaces the positive ions—magnesium and calcium—found in the water. The amount of sodium ions used will vary on the amount of positive ions found in your water.
The resin bed in your water softener tank will lose its effectiveness as it loses more sodium ions. You can, however, remedy this by creating a brine solution made specifically for water softeners. The brine tanks, which contain the solution, are attached to the softener with a valve that manages the system every time it flushes or recharges. The water softener unit will also have a drain to get rid of the minerals without having it to go through your taps.
Water softener valves
There are two kinds of valves found in a water softener. One is a time valve, which is programmed to help recharge the system at a timed interval, and the other one is a metered valve. The metered valve will allow you to recharge the system by relying on the amount of water that passes through your unit. A metered valve is a more accurate system because it provides you with the right amount of water you need. A water softener without a metered valve, on the other hand, can end up doing one of two things: your resin bed ends up being overworked, which could decrease the effectiveness quicker, or you can end up flushing your system too early.
