Frederick Jace
Water Softener’s major role is to transform the hard water into soft water. The tough minerals and sediments found in the water are treated to make your water gentle enough on your appliances, your skin, your hair, and also for your overall health. Buying the water softener is a smart idea if your daily supplied water is hard in quality. Consequently, the water softener comprises various components that work together to soften the hard water. Hence, the majority of homeowners face the issue of left-behind soapy scums on their appliances and more such damages. Here, the water softener for home works the best to improve the whole house water quality.
What Does Water Softener Eliminate?
Water Softener eliminates the minerals like calcium and magnesium from the hard water. These 2 minerals make the water hard in quality. Therefore, the ion exchange process of the water softener attracts the positively charged ions from the water. Other than calcium and magnesium the water softener also targets other minerals like manganese and iron.
On the other hand, the water softener eliminates the ferrous iron or dissolved iron. Simultaneously most of the iron remains in the dissolved or soluble state. However, the presence of iron in water makes it appear dark and make your toilet, sink, bathtub appear stained. Furthermore, it is difficult for the water softener to remove the ferric iron.
At first, the ferric iron gets accumulated on the resin beds and suppresses the backward flow of the regeneration cycle. This way the iron slugs are produced in the softened water and reduce the strength of the resin beads. Therefore, once the dissolved iron gets exposed to oxygen, it oxidizes and transforms into ferric iron. No matter even if the water softener can eliminate iron in its dissolved state, if the iron level in water is high, some portion of iron will certainly get converted into an insoluble state.
How does Water Softener work?
Generally, the whole house water softener operates on the standard of ion exchange. This principle softens the hard water containing minerals like magnesium, calcium, and iron with the substitute of salt (sodium chloride).
Thus, the water softener comprises a brine tank, a resin or mineral tank, and a control system. At first, the water supply pipe in your house is connected to the control valve, and the timer sets on top of the resin. Next, from this point, the water flows down to the tank containing the resin which is the plastic beads. Additionally, these beads are arranged in the column known as “resin beds”.
Now the negative electrical charge of these beads draws the positively charged mineral ions present in hard water while emitting sodium ions. Due to this attraction process, the minerals like calcium and magnesium in the water stick to the beads while water flows through the tank. Hence, till reaching the bottom of the tank the water quality is softened. Therefore, the softened water is pumped back by using a “riser tube” and an “outlet manifold”, which is next supplied to the entire house using a cold water pipe.
Buyers Guide for Water Softener
- Type of Water Softener: At first, you need to understand the different types of Water Softeners.
- Salt-based ion exchange: This type of water softener works on the process of ion exchange. It removes the hardness of minerals including irons. It is most commonly used in households. It improves the cleaning, lathering, reduces spots, and improves skin and hairs quality
- Salt-free Softeners: Salt-free softeners do not remove hard minerals instead they prevent the minerals from sticking to the surface and getting accumulated in pipes and any appliances. They don’t demand much maintenance. The salt is not added to water which is beneficial for those concerned about sodium consumption
- Dual-tank water softener: This type of water softener is suitable for large families and hard water softening with 2 resin tanks. It functions only on demand. It is also available with an adjustable control valve.
- Capacity: The capacity of the water softener determines how many grains of water hardness can a water softener remove before regeneration. On the other hand, the capacity is also related to the rate of flow and how many outlets of soft water can be used at a time. Therefore, the undersized and oversized water softeners work differently.
- Certification: The experts suggest the NSF/ANSI certification that states the claims for manufacturers’ performance. These certifications state that the water softeners have passed the quality test as per the industry standard.
- Price: The price of a water softener for home depends upon its brand, type, feature, and size. At first, the water softened rates between $350-$3500 or can be extended. Next, the ion exchange water softener rates between $600-$2000. Finally, the operating costs and installation costs are also considered.
