Basically, water softening is a popular process that involves the elimination of calcium and magnesium in water. A device or substance known as water softener is what makes the water soft. So how does a water softener work? The device works by facilitating the exchange of ion. Eventually, this results in the changing of hard water to the desired softened water.
What does a water softener do?
A typical water softener eliminates magnesium and calcium ions from water and substitutes them with the wanted sodium ions. By so doing, your home will be safe from toxic buildup as well as eliminating some lime scale. Consequently, it will enhance your family’s hair and skin too.
How does a water softener work?
To understand how this device works, let us go through the process starting from its installation.
1. Installation your water softener
First, if you want to have softened water at home, you should install the water softener. You will need to contact a qualified plumber with a great experience in home improvement. With high-rated and approved parts your plumber should install it on a place of your choice. You can install it in the garage, the loft, under the sink or even outside. The installation process is considerably simple and can take some few hours.
2. Trapping of the materials in hard water by the Microscopic beads
After fixing your water softener, the microscopic beads in the twin cylinders begin working.
The twin-cylinders in the water softener are packed with millions of tiny resin beads. Every bead has a negative charge. On the other hand, the magnesium and calcium have positive charges while in water. This implies that as the magnesium and calcium go through the resin beads, they approach and attract each other.
Everything that comes out of the water softener is clean, fresh. At the same time, the minerals remain in the beads. In addition to that, the Sodium obtained from the block salt (Harvey block salt) effects the exchange.
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3. The regeneration of the water softener
The process of regeneration employs sodium to separate the mineral accumulated from the resin. Basically, the sodium has a charge sufficient to take the magnesium and calcium away. However, the charge is not adequate to adhere to the resin itself.
The Harvey block salt is disintegrated and the brine solvent utilized in regenerating (cleaning) the resin tanks. Also, the brine generates the sodium required to achieve the exchange process throughout softening. After the removal, the magnesium and calcium are harmlessly rinsed down the drain. The water softener includes a meter in it. The meter determines when to regenerate subsequently, that implies that there is no water wasted. Actually, it operates at the most economical cost and the undesired hard water will never get to your system.
4. The process of dual cylinder regeneration
Essentially, a water softener has two functions:
Softening water
Regenerating itself
Normally, single cylinder water softeners have to interrupt the process of the water softening in order to regenerate. However, some other modern softeners can undergo the regeneration process without any interruption. Therefore, you can experience the softened water any time. More so, there is another conventional operation feature known as the patented duple-parallel operation. This usually regenerates one cylinder while the other keeps softening the water. With that, there will be a continuous supply of softened water every time without any interference at your home. If you need a softener for your property, you can also purchase an electronic water softener.
5. The maintenance of the water softener
Using a water softener is quite simple. Furthermore, the maintenance is also manageable. All you should do is just topping up the block salt as it runs out. In fact, that is the only maintenance you will need to observe. The operation is hushed during regular use and a bit of sound as it regenerates. The sound here appears like that of a filling cycle on a laundry machine and lasts approximately 10 minutes.
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How much does water softener cost?
Water softeners will vary in prices depending on the type. For instance, a manual regeneration water softener can cost about $400 to install. On top of this; you might also have an additional cost of $100 to $400 for installation. On the other hand, an even timed or metered system can be more expensive. This type of water softener can cost up to $3,000.
Final Notes
Knowing how a water softener work is important. This is because once you are familiar with it, even maintenance becomes quite simple. Additionally, in case your water softener misbehaves, you can easily identify where the problem is. Lastly, knowing this will give you a prior knowledge that can help you while shopping for one.