A water softener can be installed for whole-house water supplies, which comes in different styles and sizes depending on the house and household size. It if installed more commonly in the garage or basement. For homes without garage and basement, it is installed in a utility closet to where the water starts to enter the house. This is to ensure that the entire house’s water supply is softened.
Water Softener Parts and Setup
In a typical setup of a water softener, you can find a tall tank that softens water and a short tank for the brine. The tall tank is connected to the water supply. It is filled with resin beads specially formulated and permanently sealed within the tank. For the brine tank, it has a lid that is removable for filling potassium chloride pellets or salt.
If you want to consider having a water softener installed in your home to beat the hard water supply, you may contact a plumber in Clarkston, MI. Avoid the negative effect of hard water on your skin, hair, and appliances with a whole-house water softener.
How Do Water Softeners Work?
From the main supply, the water enters the water-softener tank then settles down to the resin beads. The positively charged minerals found in hard water are attracted to the negative charge in the resin. This process is what we call as ion exchange. The mineral deposit sticks to the resin beads and the softened water exits from the tank to the house.
As time goes by, the resin bead can lose its capacity to attract mineral ions. You don’t have to replace your water softener, it just needs regeneration or cleaning. This is the use of the brine tank. There is a particular setting in the on-board computer which calculates the total amount of water it can soften. Regeneration automatically happens when it has reached the amount in the settings.
The regeneration happens through the brine tank. It has salty water that flows up to the softener tank. Rinsing happens and the salty water eliminates mineral deposits from the resin beads. The washed mineral deposits are then flushed to the discharged hose. After the regeneration, the water softener works back to softening the water supply. The brine tank may require more potassium chloride pellets to further regenerate the water softener.
The cost of water softener is expected to be $2000 or $2500. However, it all depends on the size and the materials used in manufacturing.
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