A water softener in your water purifier and home is responsible for removing calcium and magnesium ions from the water, which makes the water hard. This prevents appliances in a home from being damaged by scale build-up, keeps your clothes shiny and soft, and gives your hair a shinier, silkier look. Give maintenance to the water softener is essential for optimal functioning.
But part of protecting the quality of your water is making sure your water softener undergoes regular maintenance and cleaning. Salt bridges can cause hard water to flow through pipes, leaving lime deposits on pipes and soap stains on countertops. A clogged resin bed can lower the water pressure and reduce the softening capacity of the water. We've compiled some of the most common water softener maintenance tips and troubleshooting questions to help you make sure your softener is operating at peak performance.
Why is my water softener not consuming the salt?
If your water softener runs regeneration cycles regularly, but the salt levels in your mineral tank are not dropping, it is very likely that a crust known as a salt bridge has formed in your salt tank. The salt bridges prevent the salt granules from dissolving in the water used to regenerate the resin beads from the water softener.
What is a salt bridge in a water softener?
A salt bridge forms in a water softener when the salt solidifies into a crust over the water in the brine tank. Since the salt and water are separated by a hollow space, the water cannot dissolve the salt and create the brine solution to wash the resin bed. Without the brine that regenerates the resin beads, the ion exchange process cannot take place and the water will not soften. When your salt tank is bridged with salt, the water softener will apparently continue to function normally, but the resin beads will only be rinsed with water during regeneration cycles. The pearls depend on the brine solution to replenish them with sodium and restore their charge. Without the sodium ions, the resin beads will not remove any of the hardness minerals from the water as they flow through the water softener tank.
What Causes a Salt Bridge in a Water Softener?
A salt bridge is caused by overfilling the salt tank with salt, humid temperatures, or using the wrong type of salt in the water softener. Moisture creates moisture in the brine tank, causing the salt granules to stick together and form a crust. If you live in a particularly humid area, you can prevent salt bridges by filling your salt tank more often with less salt. This way, your water softener will consume the salt before the moisture causes a salt bridge to form.
Replacing salt too often will also cause a salt bridge to form. When refilling your brine tank, never fill it more than 2/3 of the way to the top. Wait for the water softening system to deplete a significant amount of salt before adding more. When the salt tank has only 1/4 of the salt, it is the ideal time to refill it. (Although overfilling causes problems, you also want to make sure the salt level never drops below the water in the tank. Ideally, the salt will always be at least 3 inches above the water line.)
Why is my water softener turning the water brown?
The brown water that comes out of your water softener is usually the result of iron and manganese buildup in your mineral tank that fouls the softener's resin. However, brown water can also be a sign that there is a build-up of sediment in your tank, that you have eroded pipes, or it is a by-product of your water mains. The tannins in your well water can also cause brown and yellow water to appear throughout your home.
Water softeners are experts at removing ferrous iron (dissolved iron) from your water supply. Since iron is the most abundant element in the earth's crust, iron is prevalent in groundwater throughout the world. While municipal water supplies are unlikely to contain iron, iron is a very common water quality problem for good owners. When dissolved iron oxidizes, it becomes ferric iron (insoluble iron). This iron will manifest in your resin bed as brown slugs that will discolor your water. Over time the plate will build up in its resin bed and you will need to rinse the plate to prevent the resin from getting dirty. Iron dirt will not only turn water brown, but It will also decrease the efficiency of the softener and restrict flow rates. Oxidized iron molecules are around 20 times larger than their dissolved counterparts, so they quickly dwarf resin beads and eliminate their ability to soften water. Fortunately, you can remove rust particles from your water softener easily with resin cleaners.
Can a water softener cause low pressure?
A water softener can interfere with water pressure if the resin beads have been damaged by chlorine or sediment, the control valve has become clogged, or the softener has been installed incorrectly. A properly sized water softener should not reduce water pressure as a by-product of water treatment. If the water pressure is reduced, it is an indication that there is a problem within the water softener or that the water softener is not the proper size or was installed incorrectly.
If you have low water pressure, the first thing to do is isolate the source of the problem. Using the bypass valve located on top of the softener, allow the water entering the house to bypass the water softener reviews. If the water pressure returns to normal, you know that the water softener is the culprit. If you are still experiencing low pressure, you will need to do more research. Hard water causes scale to build up inside pipes, which will restrict flow rates and lower water pressure. If hard water flowed through the pipes in your home for a while before you installed a softener, they may have significant scale deposits inside them that could reduce the pressure.
If your water softener is the source of the problem, the first thing to check is the resin medium. Generally, if the water softener is responsible for the pressure loss, it is because the resin bed is damaged, contaminated, or clogged. Resin beads are made of interlocking strands of polystyrene, a synthetic plastic polymer. The beads are held together by a binding agent called DVB (divinylbenzene). Exposure to chlorine causes the bonding agent to degrade and eventually break down completely. When this happens, the resin beads turn into a soft gel. Resin that is exposed to high concentrations of chlorine will become unusable over the years. Once the resin has been destroyed,
