What
Is A Water Softener Sometimes
referred to as a water
conditioner, it does just as its name implies; a water
softener conditions water with excessive minerals in
it. Once the minerals and scale are removed from the water,
it feels "soft". It does not leave minerals or
scale behind which makes it feel slippery, which is also
why you can get away with using much less soap on your skin
and in your laundry that usual. There are no hard minerals
for the soap to surround and cling to.
Water
softeners consist of a tank with a tube running up and down
the center. The water enters the tank at the top and flows
down the tank to the bottom where it is collected into the
bottom of the tube which is called a distributor. The water
then runs up the distributor to the top of the tank and
out to your faucets or water appliances. Between the inner
walls of the tank (called a resin
tank or mineral
tank) and the outside of the distributor tube is the
material which takes the minerals and "hardness"
out of your water called "resin".
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Resin
Media is
made up of very small "beads" that are coated
with sodium ions which attract the calcium and magneseum
ions in hard water. The hard water ions swap places with
the sodium ions replacing them on the resin
media beads which release the sodium ions into your
water.
As
you can see, the water softening process is a very simple
one. Water simply flows through the resin media which trades
sodium ions for the mineral ions in the water. "But
what happens when the resin media runs out of sodium ions?"
We simply replace them. Back
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The
Water Softener Control Valve is
attached to the top of the mineral tank and separates the
in-flowing water from the out-flowing water making sure
that all un-treated water goes through the resin media bed
before flowing back up through the distributor tube and
out into your home. But the most important function of the
water
softener control valve is replacing the depleted sodium
ions that were swapped out for your water's mineral ions.
When
the resin bed is saturated with calcium and magneseum (preferably
before total saturation) the water softener control valve
initiates "regeneration". The regeneration process
involves releasing the mineral ions from the resin media
beads using a brine (water saturated sodium) solution kept
in another tank often called the brine
tank. The brine tank is connected to the
water softener control valve through a tube or hose. The
water softener control valve is able to draw brine from
the brine tank and saturate the media tank's resin bed with
it. The brine water will release the mineral ions from the
media resin beads by replacing them with the sodium ions
which make up the brine solution. The resulting concentrated
solution of calcium and magneseum ions are then directed
to a drain line. The control valve then refills the brine
tank with fresh water so that it can saturate it with the
salt that is in the brine tank to produce more brine for
the next regeneration process. As you can tell, the water
softener control valve is the main component of the water
conditioning system. "So how does the control valve
know when the resin media tank needs to be regenerated?"
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The
Two Types Of Water Softener Control Valves each
initiate the resin media's regeneration process using a
different method. One method relies on timing. It is often
called a timer
or day
timer control valve. It counts the number
of days since the last regeneration cycle. If your softener's
timer valve is set up to regenerate every four days, the
control valve will initiate a regeneration on the 4th day.
When you set up your day timer control valve, you calculate
how much water per day that your household will use. Divide
the capacity of your softener
(the amount of water that will pass through your resin media
bed before saturation) by the daily gallons and you'll get
a rough idea as to how many days will pass before you'll
need to set your day timer valve to regenerate the resin
media bed. For example: your household uses 500 gallons
of water per day. Your softener has a capacity of 2000 grains
based on the size of your resin media tank and the grains-per-gallon
of hardness in your water. You would want to set your control
valve to regenerate every 4 days.
As
you can probably already tell, chances are you are not going
to use the same amount of water on Tuesday as you will on
Friday. That is why metered or
on demand water softener control
valves were invented. With a metered control valve, you
simply set it with the number of people in your home (or
roughly the amount of water you will be using per day) and
the size of your resin media tank and it then measures or
meters the amount of water you use and schedules regeneration
accordingly. Some of them are even self-adjusting just in
case you don't get the calculations exactly right. The on-demand
water softener control valves are by far the most popular
ones we sell. They are efficient and the difference in cost
can be made up with the savings in salt in as little as
one year. Back
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What
A Water Softener Will Not Do A
water softener will not filter sediment or sand out of your
water. It is not a filter.
It will not remove bacteria or nitrates/nitrites from your
water. Unless you add anion exchange media
to your softener's mineral tank, it will not remove tannins
from your water. It will not make your water "healthier"
to drink such as reverse
osmosis, ultra-violet,
nano-filtration or distillation
will do. Back
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What
A Water Softener Will Do is
save you a great deal of money when it comes to soap and
detergent use throughout the year. Often times as much as
a 50% savings in soap products can be realized depending
on the non-softened condition of your water. It will also
save your clothes during the laundering process. No more
"dinginess" from mineral staining water. You can
also say goodbye to stains on your porcelain surfaces and
water fixtures not to mention mineral buildup in your water
pipes and hot water heater. In many cases even pre-existing
buildup can be reduced with the introduction of conditioned
water.
"So
which water softener is the best?"
The
Best Water Softener in
the world would need to meet 3 criteria:
1.
It
would need to be reliable with a solid warranty and proven
track record
2.
It
would need to meet your water's physical requirements
(size, flow-rate, capacity, etc.)
3.
It would need to be easy to set up and maintain plus operate
efficiently
Requirement
#1 is easily accomplished at WaterValue.com.
The only water conditioners we sell are the reliable ones.
Requirement
#2 is easy as well. Simply test
your water with one of our handy test
kits, find your highest flow rate and pipe size and
you're all set.
Finally
#3 is a personal preference. If you like pressing buttons
instead of turning dials, you should get a GE Osmonics Autotrol
softener with the Logix
controller, or Fleck's new model
7000 high-flow control valve. If you like the idea of
simplicity then the Fleck model 5600
Econominder or 2510
on demand water softener is the solution for you. Simplicity
with high flow-rates and capacity without ever running out
of soft water even during regeneration? The Fleck
9000 dual tank system is the only way to go.
Once
you've chosen your water softener and you've purchased one
of the models we carry, you can be sure you have the best
water softener in the world. Back
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