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How Water Softeners Work - operation, maintenance, adjustment, and water softener effect on drinking water and on septic systems.
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• How water softeners work, methods to remove minerals from home water supply
• Managing salt in drinking water

HOW Water SOFTENERS WORK - Water Softener Operation: How Do Ion Exchange Water Softeners Work

Conventional ion-exchange water softeners used to remove minerals from "hard" water in buildings usually use salt in an ion-exchange process, swapping in sodium ions (salt) and causing calcium and magnesium to precipitate out of the building water supply (and to collect in the water softener).

Resin inside the water softener contains salt molecules which are brought into contact with building water as it passes through the softener. During that contact the ion-exchange occurs to soften the water.

Water Softener Recharge Cycle: Periodically the water softener needs to recharge itself, a step which is controlled either manually by the homeowner or run automatically by a timer built into the water softener. This recharge step does two things: it washes out the precipitated calcium and magnesium sludge which the softener has removed from the water supply, and it also re-charges the salt in its ion exchanger. Usually these steps involve pumping water backwards through the water softener and to a building drain, followed by dissolving salt tablets or crystals in a nearby holding tank and pumping the new salty water into the softener.

How often a water softener needs to backwash and recharge itself depends on two factors: how much water is used in the building and how hard the water is.

How much salt a water softener uses at its backwash cycle depends on the hardness of the water being processed.

Water softeners address these two variables by one of three means: manual backwash by the owner who is supposed to notice that the water feels "hard" (can't get a lather in the shower), regular periodic backwash accomplished by a clock timer attached to the water softener, or a sensor in the (more costly) water softener monitors water hardness at the softener outlet pipe and backwashes when needed.

Some experts suspect that many homeowners use more salt and more frequent backwashing than the water usage and hardness require.

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

WATER SOFTENERS
  DETECT HARD WATER
  MEASURE WATER HARDNESS
  HOW SOFTENERS WORK
  HEALTH RISKS
  SALT OR WATER INTO SEPTIC
  REDUCE IMPACT OF SOFTENER
  SOFTENER ADJUSTMENT & CLEANING
  OTHER SOFTENER METHODS

More Information on Septic System Diagnosis, Maintenance, & Repair

• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems


• Cesspools Home Buyer's or Owner's Advice
• Drywells Home Buyer's or Owner's Advice
• Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Tank Location - How to Find the Septic Tank, how deep will the cover be, how to document its location


• Additives & Chemicals: Septic System Maintenance - Are they even needed? Are they even legal?
• Biomat Formation in the Septic System Drainfield Absorption System - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Buyer's Guide Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems Inspection & Testing - What to Do, Step by Step.
• Cheating on Water Tests - (Chlorine in Wells and Septics) Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - Water Test Cheating Warnings for Home Buyers and Home Inspectors
• Clogged Drain Diagnosis - is the problem the septic system or the Building drain system?
• What is a Septic System An Engineer's View & Septic System FAQ's
• Contamination in Buildings how to test buildings for bacterial contamination from Sewage and Septic backup, remediation, & references
• Leach Field Inspection Procedure Septic Leach Fields - how to inspect and diagnose septic drainfield failures - what causes septic field failure?
• Maintenance: Ten Steps to Keeping a Septic System Working, suggestions from the U.S. EPA, edits and additions by DJF
• Sewage & Septic Backups and what to do about sewage spillage in buildings
• Tank Location - How to Find the Septic Tank, how deep will the cover be, how to document its location
• Tank Pumping Frequency Guide for Septic Tanks: When, How, What to Watch For when pumping or cleaning septic tanks
• Water Usage: Capacity: Determining Needed Septic Capacity - Typical residential water usage for people, appliances, and activities.

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