With more than 30 years’ experience in the residential and commercial water treatment space, Mark Nelson is a Class 1 Drinking-Water Operator and a CBWA (Canadian Bottled Water Association) Certified Plant Operator. As founder and president of Nelson Water in Ottawa, Mark focuses on dealing with challenging water treatment system designs for problem water. He also heads the largest water bottling plant in the city of Ottawa with a delivery network throughout the Valley.
If you’ve decided to have a water softener installed in your home or you’re still thinking about it, it’s natural to wonder where it could be located. You may have a spare closet, a crawl space or full-sized basement, or another location in mind. But, where is the best place to install a water softener in your home?
Understanding Your New Water Softener
Before you can seriously consider a water softener installation, it’s important to understand the needs of your home. You need to know the type and size of system that you need to meet all your needs. The size of water softeners can vary a great deal, and this will determine the physical space required for your installation.
A local water treatment specialist will determine the size for you by using a few key factors, including the water quality, the flow rate, contaminants, and the volume of water used in the home. Let’s take a closer look at these in a little more detail.
The Water Quality
Understanding the hardness of your water supply will be very helpful when it comes to purchasing and installing a water softener. The hardness is caused by an elevated level of calcium and magnesium that has been dissolved in the water. This mineral content is measured in gpg (grains per gallon). Harder water has a higher gpg, and this generally means that you need a larger water softener. This is because harder water required a greater amount of media inside the softener to remove the hardness. If you have iron in your water, you will need a separate iron filtration system.
The Flow Rate
The flow rate is an important consideration because you want to ensure that your home will not run out of soft water. The flow rate is measured in gpm (gallons per minute), and it’s determined by every appliance or plumbing fixture in your home that may be running at once. If you don’t consider the flow rate, you could purchase a water softener that is too small for your home. This will be insufficient to remove the hardness, and you may notice a drop in water pressure.
Other Contaminants
Your water could contain other contaminants that may affect your water softener. So, it’s a great idea to get a comprehensive water test before you make a purchase. The water testing kits that you can find are not accurate enough for this purpose. It’s a better idea to contact a local water treatment specialist and get the sample tested at a lab. Based on the results, a professional will be able to recommend the exact equipment that you need to deal with your water quality issues.
Water Usage
According to studies from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) an average American uses around 80-100 gallons of water each and every day. This may seem like a large volume of water for a single person, but this covers every water related activity in the home, including flushing toilets, taking showers, cleaning, laundry, and many more. It’s very easy to consume large volumes of water quickly if you run the faucet when brushing your teeth or start the shower before you’re ready to get in. Sizing a water softener is pretty simple, take the number of people in the home and multiply that by the number of gallons of water consumed by them. As an example: If there are four people living in the home and they consume 100 gallons each day, you need a water softener with a capacity of 400 gallons per day.
Where Do You Situate the Water Softener?
Now we know the size and types of features that you need for your water softener, it’s time to find the ideal location for the installation. There are a few general rules to consider before you get started:
Firstly, the best place for a water softener is near to the entry point for the water into your home. If your home is supplied with city water, this will be near the water meter. If you get your water from a well, a good spot is next to your pressure tank.
Secondly, you need to have a nearby power source and a handy drain for the wastewater. The best water softeners use an ion-exchange system that uses resin media to remove the mineral ions by exchanging them with sodium. An accumulation of mineral ions makes the resin less effective, and it needs to be rinsed away with a regeneration cycle.
Thirdly, homes in warmer states that don’t have basements can have a water softener and filtration equipment located outside. But, that is not a viable option here due to lower winter temperatures that can freeze water and damage your systems. So, you need to have your water softener installed indoors to protect it from the elements.
Let’s take a look at four of the more common locations for your new water softener:
- The Basement
If you have a full-sized basement, there is more than enough space to accommodate your water softener system. As long as you place the system near a power supply, next to a water source, and with ready access to the drain, you’re good to go. Many people install their water softener next to the water heater to keep all their water systems in an easy to access location.
- The Garage
If your home doesn’t have a crawl space or basement, the garage is a good option. Storing your water softening salt next to the system is easy, and there should be adequate space. This is a less popular option for many homeowners because some extra plumbing work would be needed. The key thing to remember with a garage installation is that the water softener needs to be kept in a comfortable temperature range to work efficiently.
- A Crawl Space
This is a great option, but if you have a larger water softener, it may not fit in a crawl space. Before you begin an installation, it’s important to take accurate measurements to ensure that the equipment fits. Remember that you will need to periodically fill the brine tank with water softening salt, and easy access is essential.
- A Utility Room
If you don’t have a basement, garage, or adequate crawl space, a utility room can be a good option. But, these tend to be smaller spaces, so some creative use of the area may be needed to get everything to fit. A closet installation is possible, but you must have a drain for the wastewater.
If you’re considering a water softener installation for your home, contact your local water treatment specialist today.