How To Maintain Your Water Softening System?

If you are residing in a hard water state, then a water softening system is a must-have in a home. Water softeners save you a lot of money and effort to maintain your home appliances that hard water may damage. So, instead of wasting money on replacing water heaters, showerheads, and pipes, a homeowner can invest in the best water softening system and take care of it for its long lifespan. To maintain a water softening system is not a complicated task. But, if you want to maintain it properly, then you must learn how it works.

Components Maintenance

Generally, there are two central components of a water softener: a brine and a resin tank. Usually, water softeners have both tanks separate, but some of them have both in one. However, both of them need maintenance to make sure its durability for a long time. Keeping and maintaining tanks require knowledge and understanding, so first learn why it is vital to keep them safe and sound to maintain your water softening system.

Maintaining Brine Tank

The brine tank is one of a component that is responsible for making up your softener. To ensure its maintenance, you must add the right amount of salt to it and keep track of its needs for the salt.

Cleaning

Cleaning a brine tank is a must. It would help if you did it more often to make sure the softener is using a clean tank to regenerate the resin. The cleaning of a brine tank is super easy.

First of all, power off your water softener. Get it to the lowest level and remove excess salt and brine our of it. Then vacuum the tank as much as you can to make sure its purity. In the last, refill it to the 2/3 of the tank again.

Salt Bridge

If your brine tank has a salt bridge inside of it, there is a chance that it resists your water to be softened. Yes, it happens naturally by the presence of salt in the tank. It appears as a hard layer of salt that overtops the water inside the tank.

Now it will make sense to you that when the resin is regenerated, there won’t be enough sodium that pumps into the resin, so the resin would not purify. Eventually, when you soften your water by the water softener, the resin has calcium and magnesium that makes the water harder.

However, every problem comes with a solution. Salt bridge is not a headache anymore, because we can remove it without any hurdle and get the soft water from our system. First, make sure the power button of your water softening system is off, and the bypass switch is on. Then get a stick and start breaking the salt bridges you see. After splitting, try to scoop out all the unnecessary salt and brine from the tank. Now, you need to pour down some hot water onto it to dissolve the remaining salt. Let it sit like that for hours, then regenerate the system.

Maintaining Resin Tank

This tank won’t annoy you like the other, as it doesn’t require a lot of attention. Still, it demands cleaning for sediment damage or replacing the resin. If you can replace the resin by yourself, then it would be great because you will be able to save hundreds of dollars.

For some help, you’ll need to take your tank to the hardware store. The seller will guide you to get the corresponding resin type and other related necessary items.

After obtaining a resin and the parts needed for the repair, be sure to turn off your softening system and put it on bypass. Later, remove the reservoir, then the manifold, then remove the resin. Be careful; water must be.

Its time to put the new distributor tube you bought inside the tank, and adjust the height by cutting it. Then, check if your tank needs gravel. Put it inside if it demands, and then the final step is putting new resin into the tank.

In the last step, backwash the tank and regenerate it a few times before starting. You will feel the difference after the process.

Tips and Tricks to Maintain the Water Softener

We are giving you a few suggestions and tips that you can consider in maintaining your water softening system.

Schedule your cleaning, so it will help you keep track of when your softeners need maintenance. Usually, the latest softeners can last a few years without cleaning, but older ones need attention more often.
Scrub the tank with the help of a dishwasher and a brush for a guaranteed cleaning.
Make sure to clean the valve present between the resin tank and a brine tank. It stops the resin tank from getting clogged.
Check the salt levels twice in a month to save yourself from any bad experience and early maintenance.
You must know what type of salt your softener is demanding. Granular salt is the standard type of salt as it dissolves in the water more efficiently.
Break up salt bridges when you find any to purify the water.
Do not rinse the salty water into your garden or any other area where you keep your plants. Remember, salt kills plants.

Final words

Parts and components of a product are responsible for its lifespan. If you get successful in maintaining them, then it would be enough for you. The water softener plays a big role in your daily life. It protects your household appliances and provides you with fresh water at all times. He therefore deserves your concern and your security. Plus, knowing your work won’t break your wallet.

Moreover, watch out and see when it requires cleaning and maintenance. The whole maintaining process is user-friendly, and anyone in the house can do it without professional assistance. This article is a complete guide on how to maintain your water softening system cost-effectively. Moreover, also check out our article on the best water softeners.