With more and more people turning to the “DIY” mentality to get things done at home, there’s an increased need for beginner’s guides to the operation of many common, household items. The water softener is no exception, especially considering that many people are initially scared away by its seemingly complex series of parts. If you are looking to buy water softener parts, however, it will serve you well to have a basic understanding of the device’s operation.
Most of my articles are written either as a result of research conducted for my own home improvement projects or as a reponse to email requests. This one was purely the latter, and I was amazed at how many people are undertaking the task of rebuilding their softeners. Therefore, without any further delay let’s take a look at what a water softener is as well as the primary parts that make up this useful device.
What Does A Water Softener Do?
These helpful devices essentially exist in order to remove mineral content from water. This mineral content generally consists of magnesium and/or calcium, often referred to as “lime” in common parlance. So what’s the big deal? Plenty. Lime causes “scaling” on plumbing, taking the form of a white, chalky deposit in your ceramic water dispenser or washing machine. Add soap to the equation and you have even bigger problems, causing the material to form a potential clog rather than dissolving as it normally does in the absence of hard water. Beyond simple clogs, this limescale can even cause damage to your plumbing, water cooler, or any other water-related appliance, necessitating expensive and arduous repairs. Additionally, any decorative water devices such as indoor floor fountains will display noticeably improved operation if you feed them soft water which won’t stick around and cause problems later on. Also, if you combine a basic water softener with Fluval filters (or some equivalent brand), you can also extend the life of your aquarium and fish. Last, hard water can damage laundry by inserting minerals between the fibers and compromising the structure of the garment, so soft water is vitally important to getting a perfect wash cycle.
A useful look at the operation of a basic water softener:
This is where the water softener comes in. As a side note, many of the technical explanations that I’ve read in books and online about the inner workings of a water softener were extremely dense, requiring a depth of scientific knowledge not necessarily required for the layperson who simply wants a simple, working idea of what’s happening inside the softener. Therefore, I’ve taken this research and boiled it down to a form that conveys the essential issues while dispensing with the terse jargon. If you need the dense, scientific version, you’re in the wrong place!
On the most basic level, the water softener works by removing the positively charged ions which make water “hard.” These ions are attracted into a resin which is coated with sodium ions. When water passes through the resin, the metallic ions from the water absorb into the resin, replaced with the sodium ions that originally coated the resin. This effective softens the water because sodium is far easier to dissolve in water, and therefore it doesn’t lead to the clogs and damage that result from untreated hard water.
Regeneration
Eventually, the water softener’s resin bed will exhaust its supply of sodium ions and need to be purged of the other material that it has absorbed over time. At this point, all the hardness ions in the incoming water will pass through unaffected, damaging your plumbing and causing irritating clogs. Thankfully, the process of regeneration is pretty simple, especially when you’ve done it once or twice already. Each unit will of course be subject to its own peculiar quirks and methods of operation, but the general principles remain the same no matter what product you are using to soften your water. Here’s a basic look at the generic process:
The first step is to change the control valve over to the correct position so that the softener cannot be used for its normal purpose during the regeneration. This process is referred to as “regeneration” in reference to the fact that sodium is reintroduced to the resin.
The process now proceeds with a backwash during which water is passed through the entire mechanism in reverse to do some initial cleaning.
Next, the brine tank pushes massive amounts of sodium laden water into the resin bed in an attempt to overwhelm the resin with negatively charged ions, forcing out the previously absorbed magnesium and calcium ions out of the resin and the system as a whole.
Last, the brine tank is refilled, salt being dissolved into water and eventually stored for the next round of regeneration.
The Parts Of A Water Softener
With that extremely basic explanation firmly in mind, here are the water softener parts that you should know about in case you need to replace them in the future:
- Control Valve. This is the entry point of the water softener, the place where the water passes through on the way to the resin bed.
- Resin Tank. This is arguably the most important part of the water softener, the holding tank for the resin bed that contains all the negative charged sodium ions that will eventually be traded for calcium and magnesium ions.
- Brine Tank. This part of the softener exists to aid in “regeneration,” the process by which a fully exhausted resin bed is cleansed of all the calcum and magnesium and re-coated with sodium, readying the unit to soften water once again. The brine tank contains salt laden water, the medium which contains the sodium ions that are eventually passed through the resin bed in order to recharge it.
So there you have it, a basic rundown of the purpose of the device, a simple explanation of necessary maintenance, as well as a straightforward look at the main water softener parts that you need to be concerned with during maintenance. Of course, if you want to diagnose a specific problem, you’ll need to disassemble the mechanism and get your hands dirty. Be absolutely sure to read all relevant instructions as well as consulting other resources so you are aware of any potential safety issues!
Looking for a water softener for the road? Check out this post on portable water softeners.
Want more water dispenser information? Head to the front page!
