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.

Many areas are supplied with hard water that contains an elevated concentration of dissolved minerals. These minerals are primarily calcium and magnesium, but high levels of iron can also be a major problem. For this reason, many people install water softener systems to remove the hardness and to make the water easier to use. In this article, we will take a closer look at how the water softening process works to help you make informed decisions for your home.

What are the Negative Consequences of Hard Water?

The first problem is that the high mineral content inhibits the formation of soap suds that are needed for cleaning. This makes washing, laundry tasks and taking a shower a real chore. Adding more soap or detergent simply doesn’t work and it’s a waste of money. The minerals can tangle in fabric fibers which makes clothes feel scratchy and the colors are duller. This is similar to how the minerals tangle at the root of hair after washing in hard water and it’s the source of many “bad hair days”. Hard water caused the formation of scale in our plumbing pipes and fixtures and on heating elements. Scale degrades the performance and efficiency of water using appliances and it will lead to an earlier than expected replacement. Hard water is bad for your skin, the minerals clog pores which can lead to breakouts and the skin cannot produce natural oils.

How Does Hard Water Reach My Home?

When water falls as rain, it’s almost pure H2O, but it does pick up some airborne contaminants and then it falls on the ground. The water seeps into the soil, it passes through various layers of sand, soil and rock. These materials have various concentrations of naturally occurring minerals including calcium, magnesium and iron. Water is an excellent solvent, it can dissolve a wide variety of materials and these are added to its makeup. So, if the water passes through rocks that contain magnesium the concentration of dissolved magnesium will be higher in that source of water. Eventually, the water will pass into underground aquifers or it will run into surface bodies of water. These are both potential sources of public water supplies and private wells. The local water treatment plant will not remove the hardness from the water.

How Does a Water Softener Work?

There are a few ways to remove dissolved minerals from water, but most of them are unreliable or inefficient. The only tried and tested method in widespread use is a water softener that uses an ion-exchange process. This system receives the incoming hard water and then it exchanges the mineral ions for salt ions.

The ion-exchange process takes place in a tank filled with resin media beads that facilitate a reversible chemical reaction. The mineral ions are attracted to the surfaces of the resin beads and the salt ions take their place. As you might imagine, as the resin beads are covered with minerals they become less effective. The surfaces of the beads are periodically recharged with flushing to remove the accumulated mineral content. This wastewater is then directed to the drain and the water softener is ready for use again.

The recharging process uses a strong brine solution that’s sourced from a brine tank. This is where the water softening salt is added to water and stored for successive regeneration cycles. The usual process is a backwash followed by a brine draw and this is controlled by an electronic programmable valve.

How Does the Regeneration Cycles Work?

The regeneration cycle can be a demand initiated or timer initiated system. The demand initiated system monitors the volume of water used and triggers the regeneration when it’s needed. The timer system is less flexible, it triggers the process at a set time and day and this occurs even when a regeneration cycle may be unnecessary. This is a big deal because the regeneration cycle uses a large volume of brine solution and saving water will lower your bills. For this reason, most water treatment specialists recommend a demand initiated water softener system.

4 Key Brine Tank Components

The brine tank is an important part of the entire water softening system and this is the only part of the system that most people will interact with on a regular basis. Let’s take a look at the four key components in a brine tank:

1.   The Brine Tank

This is where the brine solution is created and stored utility it’s needed. The brine tank is usually located in close proximity to the water softener for easy connectivity and access. The brine tank uses specially formulated water softening salt to facilitate the ion-exchange process and to clean the resin beads during the regeneration cycle. This salt can be in a pellet or block format and it may be sodium or potassium.

2.   The Brine Tank Well

This is a cylindrical barrier that keeps the water softening salt way from the air check valve and safety float. These two components need to be kept clean and clear to operate efficiently.

3.   The Safety Float

The safety float is installed inside the brine tank, it prevents the overflowing of the brine solution onto the floors. This is an important safety feature because the control valve injectors can be clogged and this increases the risk of overflowing.

4.   The Grid Plate

This is also known as the salt platform, it’s located at the bottom of the tank and its purpose is to displace water. This promotes the flow of water into the tank to ensure that sufficient volumes of brine solution are available for the regeneration cycle.

In Conclusion

Hard water creates a number of problems in the home that degrade the quality of life and the consequences are hard on your bank balance. The cost of a new water softener, the water softener salt and the need for  ongoing essential maintenance is a bargain in comparison. If you need maintenance for your water softener or you want to install a system, contact your local water treatment specialist.