What is contained in water softeners?
Water is considered “hard” when it contains high concentrations of minerals such as calcium or magnesium. When hard water passes through your home’s pipes and plumbing, it can cause a number of problems that can range from decreased pressure to corroded equipment.
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If you have extremely hard water in your home, a water softener is an investment that you should make. Not only will it improve the quality of your water, but it will also help extend the lifespan of your appliances and protect your plumbing from damage.
What is contained in water softeners?
A traditional water softener has two tanks: a resin tank and a brine tank. As water enters the resin tank, it passes through a set of porous, plastic polystyrene resin beads. These negatively charged resin beads attract and hold the positively charged calcium and magnesium particles in the water. As the beads absorb the minerals from the water, the water that flows through them becomes “soft” and can be safely used.
When the beads become saturated with the minerals, they need to be regenerated. The resin beads are surrounded by water, and this water is filled with sodium chloride. The sodium chloride is a salt-rich solution that causes the beads to release the hardness minerals. Once the hardness minerals have been removed, the water in the resin tank is then regenerated, restoring the negative charges on the resin beads to their original sodium-saturated state.
There are a few types of water softeners. The most common type, and the one that is most likely in your home, is an ion exchange softener. It uses ion-exchange resin to swap the calcium and magnesium in your water for sodium or potassium.
This type of system is relatively easy to install and requires very little maintenance. It’s a good choice for people who want to save money on their utility bills, but it doesn’t remove all the hardness minerals from your water and can be less effective than a salt-free system.
If your water is particularly hard, you may need a special-purpose softener that’s capable of removing a variety of contaminants. These include iron, manganese, and radium, along with calcium and magnesium.
A water softener can be connected to only hot and cold taps, or it can be used to treat both cold and hot water. In either case, you’ll need to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for how frequently to drain and backwash the softener.
Some people choose to use a water softener only in the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, and other areas where heavy minerals can be a problem. Others use it to soften their whole house’s supply of water.
What is contained in water softeners?
Water softeners come in several different types, including ion exchange and salt-free models. While both work to soften your water, ion-exchange systems are more commonly found in homes and often cost more than salt-free systems. They are also a bit more expensive to maintain and do not work as well on very hard water.