How To Know If Water Softener Is Working

Wondering if your water softener is working properly?

We know it tin can be confusing to endeavor and figure out all the different aspects of water softening. That's why we've put together this commodity on how to tell if your water softener is regenerating. It includes everything from tips for homeowners to a list of what factors make up one's mind frequency of regeneration.

One time you've read through our guide, you'll exist able to tell whether or non your water softener is doing its job properly – and if information technology's not, you'll know exactly what to exercise about it.

Continue reading to learn more nearly how to tell if your water softener is regenerating.

Water Softener Regeneration

H2o softeners remove hardness through a process called ion exchange. During ion exchange, calcium and magnesium ions are removed from water with a special resin. This resin does this past exchanging (i.e. replacing) sodium or potassium ions on its surface with the hardness ions in h2o. These replacement ions come from the salt that is added to the water softener.

Over fourth dimension, the capacity of the resin to remove calcium and magnesium decreases as it becomes saturated. When this happens, it's time for the water softener to regenerate the resin.

What is regeneration

During regeneration, a alkali solution is used to replace the hardness (calcium and magnesium) on the resin with sodium. Potassium ions can too be used by switching the blazon of salt used.

The h2o softener flushes the resin with salt h2o to remove the calcium and magnesium to restore it. Once the hardness ions take been removed, the system flushes the resin with fresh water to rinse away the salt.

What determines frequency of regeneration

The frequency of regeneration depends on the following five factors.

i – Water usage

The amount of h2o you lot apply is a major factor in how frequently your water softener has to regenerate. As you lot utilise more water, the resin chaplet become filled with hardness ions and need to be flushed out more frequently.

2 – Water hardness

The 2nd well-nigh important factor controlling the regeneration of your softener is the hardness of your water. The harder your water, the more than speedily the resin will go saturated and demand to exist regenerated. This is a direct relationship – doubling the hardness of your water ways you have to regenerate twice as fast.

Water hardness is measured in grains per gallon (gpg) or milligrams per liter (mg/50). Depending on the amount of calcium and magnesium in your water, it is rated every bit soft or hard.

Water hardness is classified into four categories:

Soft water: 0-60 mg/L (0-three.5 GPG)
Moderately difficult water:61-120 mg/Fifty (3.v-vii GPG)
Hard h2o: 121 to 180 mg/L (seven-10.5 GPG)
Very hard water: greater than 180 mg/L (>10.5 GPG)

3 – Resin tank chapters

Water softeners are often rated by their chapters to remove hardness. This is usually given in grains. A typical water softener has a treatment capacity of 35,000 grains.

If your resin tank is small, it has less chapters to remove hardness. This will require more frequent regeneration than a larger tank with more treatment capacity.

4 – Atomic number 26 and manganese levels

Atomic number 26 and manganese are metals that are often found in water. These compounds dissolve in groundwater as it percolates through the soil.

While these metals are not considered hardness, they are removed by the ion substitution resin and reduce its chapters to remove hardness. As a result, water softeners that treat water with high levels of fe or manganese may need to regenerate more than frequently.

v – Age of system

The resin in your h2o softener has a service life of 10 to 15 years. As it removes calcium and magnesium, the resin swells. When it is regenerated, its diameter decreases. This expansion/contraction amercement the resin over time and reduces its capacity to remove hardness.

Resin can also become fouled with biological growth and mineral deposition. As the surface of the media is coated, its power to remove hardness decreases.

As the system ages, it will require more frequent regeneration to maintain its performance.

All of these factors make the resin less effective and reduce its capacity. The net result is your water softener must regenerated more than frequently. If your water softener is more than fifteen years old, information technology is probably time to replace the resin.

What triggers the regeneration process?

Water softeners automatically regenerate to restore the capacity of the resin. The regeneration process is initiated in ane of three ways.

time-initiated
demand-initiated
manually initiated

i. Time-initiated

The older, first-generation h2o softeners used a clock to control the regeneration bicycle. The timer is programmed to regenerate at a certain time of day or night, typically when h2o usage is low. This type of regeneration is often used in commercial applications where water demand is relatively abiding.

Time-initiated regeneration has the advantage of being very predictable. Still, information technology can exist wasteful if the system regenerates when it is not necessary.

Time-initiated regeneration is the least common blazon of regeneration, equally more than sophisticated methods are at present available.

ii. Demand-initiated

Nearly modern water softeners use some type of demand-initiated regeneration. This means the arrangement regenerates only when the chapters of the resin is spent.

With demand-initiated regeneration, the control system monitors your water usage. It calculates the corporeality of chapters used based on the volume of h2o candy and your water'southward hardness. The hardness concentration is entered manually during arrangement setup.

When the system calculates that the resin is exhausted, information technology initiates a regeneration cycle. This type of regeneration is much more efficient than fourth dimension-initiated regeneration, equally it only regenerates when necessary.

3. Transmission option

You can too regenerate your water softener manually. This is typically only necessary if the system has not been used for an extended flow of fourth dimension, such as when you are away on vacation.

To manually regenerate your water softener, follow the directions for your unit. For almost systems, you lot just press the "regenerate" button on the control panel. The organization will then become through the regeneration cycle.

Most systems have a transmission regeneration option, even if they use demand-initiated regeneration. This is a useful characteristic if you lot know you lot volition be abroad for an extended period of time and want to regenerate the system earlier you leave.

How long does regeneration take?

The regeneration process can take anywhere from 60 to 120 minutes. The actual fourth dimension will depend on the size of your water softener, the setting you accept called, and the item brand and model you own.

How Can I Tell if Water Softener is Regenerating

There are several ways you tin can tell if your h2o softener is regenerating.

Listen for regeneration

What does regeneration audio like? When your water softener is regenerating, you should hear water flowing through the resin tank at a high flow. You should also hear water discharging to the bleed (or wherever the backwash water is discharged).

1 problem with this test is that the h2o softener was probably programmed to regenerate when water usage is low. This is unremarkably in the middle of the night. Unless you're willing to stay upward belatedly (or wake upwardly very early), this isn't a very pracical test.

Check the salt level

Every fourth dimension your softener regenerates, it uses common salt. As a outcome, the salt level in the alkali tank will go down when regeneration occurs. Keeping an eye on your table salt usage will allow yous to know when regeneration is taking place.

To check the salt level, simply open up the brine tank and look within. If the salt level is depression, it'south a adept indication that regeneration has occurred recently.

Test your water'due south hardness

The best way to discover out if your water softener is regenerating normally is to check the hardness of your water. You can practice this with a h2o hardness examination kit.

Almost water softener manufacturers recommend testing the water hardness one time a month. Compare the hardness concentration to previous sampling results to see if the level is increasing.

A sudden increase in hardness is an indication that your system is non regenerating properly.

Transmission regeneration test

You tin also manually initiate a regeneration wheel and run across if it completes properly. To do this, but follow the directions for your unit. For most systems, you press the "regenerate" button on the command panel.

Once regeneration is consummate, exam your h2o's hardness to come across if the level has decreased. If it has not, then there may be a problem with your h2o softener.

Is My Water Softener Working Properly

Your water softener has to regenerate periodically to remove the hardness from your water. Simply how practise you know if it's working properly? The best way is to appraise how well it is reducing your water'south hardness.

The post-obit are a few ways you can tell if your water softener is regenerating properly:

Measure water hardness routinely

The all-time way to evaluate how well your h2o softener is working is to measure out the hardness of your water on a regular basis. You can do this with a water hardness test kit.

Qualitative signs

You tin as well tell if your water is being softened properly by observing some qualitative signs. For case, if your water is no longer leaving spots on dishes or spectacles, that'south a adept sign the system is working properly.

If you lot notice the lather doesn't lather very well when washing your hands, that could be an indication that your water softener needs to regenerate.

FAQs

How can I manually beginning the regeneration bicycle on my water softener?

Near water softeners have a manual regeneration bike that tin be initiated by pressing the "regenerate" button on the control panel. Consult your water softener's possessor's transmission for specific instructions.

Can I shower or drinkable water during the regeneration bike

When your h2o softener is regenerating, you lot should not use your water because it volition bypass the unit. This means that untreated, hard water volition exist flowing through your plumbing system. If you use a lot of water, then you lot may go scale build-upwardly on fixtures and in appliances.

How can I tell if my water softener is working?

If your water softener is working properly, and so your h2o volition be soft. You can tell if your water is soft if information technology no longer leaves spots on dishes or glasses. Another sign that your water softener is working properly is if the soap lathers better when y'all wash your hands. You can too test the hardness of your water with a water hardness exam kit.

Conclusion

If you're a homeowner with a water softener, it'south important to know if it'southward working properly. An important part of this is the regeneration process. Do you know how to tell if it'southward regenerating?

In this weblog mail, nosotros outlined the three ways that regeneration can happen – time-initiated, need-initiated, and manual pick. We too reviewed the regeneration procedure and how to tell if your system is working properly. Finally, we gave tips on how to measure h2o hardness and determine frequency of regeneration based on factors like water usage and resin tank capacity.

Source: https://purewaterblog.com/how-to-tell-if-your-water-softener-is-regenerating-tips-for-homeowners