Water Softener System Parts and What Each One Does

A water softener system is simpler than the sales sheet makes it look. One tank holds the beads that pull hardness out of your water. A second tank holds the salt water that cleans those beads. A control valve decides when the cleaning happens. A bypass valve shuts the unit off without shutting off the house.

This is the tall tank. Penn State says the water is filtered through a media called resin or zeolite. The resin is a sand like material coated with sodium.

The trade happens inside it. Penn State says the resin lets go of its sodium. It takes the calcium and magnesium in return. The water leaving the tank is soft.

The tank has a limit. That limit is the spec you shop on. Penn State's own sizing example uses a capacity of 20,000 grains per cleaning cycle. That is the number a maker prints as grain capacity.

One maker's product page names the same part. It calls it a high efficiency resin tank. It says the tank removes hardness minerals by ion exchange.

This is the shorter tub with the lid you lift.

Penn State says the brine has to be mixed and stored in that tank. Without it, the cleaning cycle has nothing to work with.

It needs your hands more than the resin tank does. Nebraska Extension says the brine tank needs checking and cleaning. How often depends on your salt and your water. It also says to look inside for scale buildup.

One smaller part inside is worth knowing. Nebraska Extension says the brine valve and float should be cleaned once a year. It says to look them over at the same time.

The control valve sits on top of the resin tank and runs the schedule.

Penn State says nearly all softeners fall into two groups. Timed models have a clock you can set. They clean on a schedule. Demand models use electrical or mechanical sensors. They usually clean after a set number of gallons.

Nebraska Extension adds what those sensors watch. A demand unit can count the gallons you use. It can read the electrical change in the resin bed. It can also sense a change in hardness. Some of these units carry two softening tanks plus a brine tank. One tank can work while the other cleans.

One maker's product page leads with this part. It calls it a programmable control valve. That is a fair place to lead. This valve decides how much salt and water the system spends.

The bypass valve is the small handle where the plumbing meets the unit.

One maker's product page describes what it does. It routes untreated water through the home's plumbing while the softener is offline. That covers upkeep, salt refilling and service calls.

In plain terms, it means hard water instead of no water. You can work on the softener without shutting the house down.

Not every home needs this part. Some homes cannot run without it.

One maker's product page puts it ahead of the softener. It catches sand, silt and rust before they reach the resin tank.

The extension services back the idea. Penn State says iron that has met air or chlorine will clog the resin. It says a filter ahead of the softener keeps that iron out. Nebraska Extension says grit in the water can cut how well the softener works. It says iron above 5 ppm can do the same. So can hydrogen sulfide.

Nebraska Extension also gives the limit that matters. A softener may remove as much as 5 to 10 ppm of iron and manganese. Above the rating your maker prints, you may need to treat the water first. It names a greensand filter. The point is to protect the life of the unit.

Every cleaning cycle produces waste, and it has to go somewhere.

Minnesota Health says the salty solution left behind is a waste stream. It goes down the drain, and then into the environment.

Penn State puts a number on it. About 50 gallons of water go into each cleaning cycle. Nebraska Extension calls that one load of laundry in an older washing machine.

If you are on septic, Penn State says to weigh that load on the drain field before you buy.

Nebraska Extension says softeners are built for one type of salt or another. Follow the maker's advice.

Compressed salt comes as pellets, nuggets or beads. Nebraska Extension says most softeners are built for this type. Some blends made for iron carry food grade additives. One of those is citric acid.

Block salt looks like the blocks used for livestock. Nebraska Extension warns that livestock blocks may carry additives. Those additives do not belong in a softener. Use blocks only in a unit built for them.

Rock salt is the risky one. Nebraska Extension says it may carry high levels of impurities. Those cut the cleaning cycle short and plug valves. Use it only if the maker suggests it. Then use grades that average less than 1 percent impurities.

Potassium chloride is the swap for people cutting sodium. Nebraska Extension says it costs more. It is also harder to find. It sticks to the resin more strongly. That lowers the trade, so you need more of it.

Grain capacity is the number that ties the tank to your water.

Penn State shows how it plays out. Start with a capacity of 20,000 grains. Use 75 gallons per person per day, water at 10 grains per gallon, and 4 people. That home uses 3,000 grains a day. Divide 20,000 by 3,000. The unit cleans itself about every 6 to 7 days.

So the parts list only means something next to your own hardness number.