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 What does a water softener do?
A water softener removes "hardness" and dissolved iron, commonly called clear water iron, from your water. Water hardness comes from dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water entering your home. Generally, hard water comes from underground water sources. whether it is your private well, community well, public water utility well, or a private water utility well.
How does a water softener work?
A water softener uses a proven technology called ion exchange and a durable material called ion exchange resin. It is also called softening resin or cation resin. The ion exchange process removes dissolved calcium, manganese, iron, and some other metals from water. As the name implies, the process exchanges the calcium, manganese, iron, and other metallic ions with the sodium ion or potassium ion from the resin. After a period of time, the removed calcium, manganese, iron, and other metals will need to be taken from softening resin. This process is called regeneration and uses a brine solution to remove the ions from the resin.
How do I know if I need a water softener?
You may need a water softener if you are having trouble rinsing shampoos and soaps from your hair and skin, your detergents are not making suds, glassware is getting cloudy, white clothes are becoming dingy, and/or you get brown stains on your sinks and tubs. A simple "hardness" test will determine if you need to consider putting a water softener into your home. With a value of 3 grains/ gallon (3 GPG or 52 ppm), or greater you should consider adding a water softener to where your water enters, called Point-of-Entry, your home. Also, a dissolved iron test will determine the iron levels in your water. Virtually any dissolved iron will cause staining of clothing and plumbing fixtures.
Any special things I should know about a Homestead System water softener?
When a water softener removes hardness and dissolved iron from water, it replaces it with sodium. If you are on a strict, low sodium diet, you should consider adding an RO, reverse osmosis, system for your drinking water.
For maximum efficiency and lowest brine usage, select the 3000 Series water softeners. They come standard with a built in water meter. The 3000 Series electronic controller monitors household water usage on a gallon by gallon basis. Therefore, regeneration cycle only happens when necessary eliminating salt and water waste. If you do not use much water, your system will regenerate less frequently. If you have guests and water demand increases, the unit will compensate.
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