How Water Softeners Work
The water you get in your home is “hard water”. Hard water is water that contains a lot of minerals – calcium, magnesium, and others. This type of water affects your home because the minerals inside the water dissolve and build up on the inside of pipes, water heaters, tea kettles, coffee makers and industrial machinery, reducing the efficiency and life of these objects.
ď śIt also reduces the ability of soap to lather, and make soaps and detergents lose effectiveness. You can combat hard water in various ways, including filtering it by distillation, by using reverse osmosis, adding a packaged chemical softener such as powdered borax or washing soda, or running it through a water softener.
ď śIt also reduces the ability of soap to lather, and make soaps and detergents lose effectiveness. You can combat hard water in various ways, including filtering it by distillation, by using reverse osmosis, adding a packaged chemical softener such as powdered borax or washing soda, or running it through a water softener.
ď śFiltration in sink taps and refrigerator water dispensers improves water's taste, but its price makes it unworthy as a household solution. Packaged chemicals soften water in small batches, such as washing machine loads, but render the water undrinkable, take a toll on clothes, and, in some cases, contain phosphates that harm the environment.
ď śTo remove these minerals from hard water, a water softener is used most of the time. Water softeners are filters that remove these minerals from the water. Water softeners have 3 main components, a mineral tank, brine tank, and a control valve. ď śThe mineral tank is where the water filter separates the water from the calcium and magnesium. The brine tank is where a highly concentrated solution of salt or potassium is stored.
ď ś The control valve is the device that controls the flow of water into and out of the mineral and brine tanks during a process called “regenerationâ€?. There are plastic beads that collect all of the minerals after being separated from the water. Over several cycles, calcium and magnesium replace all of the sodium in the beads, after which the unit can no longer soften water. To fix this problem, the softener enters a regeneration cycle during which it soaks the beads in a strong solution of water and salt.
ď śThe amount of sodium in the brine solution causes the calcium and magnesium ions in the beads to give way, and the beads are recharged with sodium. ď śAfter regeneration, the water softener flushes the remaining brine, plus all of the calcium and magnesium, through a drainpipe. The tank is then filled with water and rinsed, and the process then repeats itself.
ď śMost home water softeners use the plastic bead and salt approach. The main difference between them is how they decide when to regenerate. Some softeners use electric timers that flush and recharge based on a regular schedule. Others use a computer that judges bead depletion based on water use. And some use a mechanical water meter to measure water use and begin the recharging process only when sodium exhaustion requires it.
ď śWith modern water softeners, it is very possible to take them along during moving. Installation techniques involve quick fitting connections, similar to those used for laundry machines.
ď śAll that has to be done is closing off the inlet and outlet valves of the softener and open up the bypass valve, allowing hard water to flow to the storage tank and household taps. After that the softener can be disconnected, moved to its new location and placed there.
Water softeners remain the most popular because they are the least costly and most effective way to get rid of the minerals in the water.
Read more on water conditioners: http://www.aquamanwater.com/