Water Softener Systems & How They Work

If you live in a hard water area, you may already know about the benefits of a water softener system – cleaner dishes, healthier skin and hair, reduced soap scum and more. But how exactly does it work? In this article, we’ll explain what a water softener is and how it improves your home’s water.

What is a water softener system?

To put it simply, a water softener system removes the minerals, mainly calcium and magnesium, that make water hard. These minerals are what cause limescale buildup, foggy film on surfaces, faded laundry and other issues. To remedy these problems, a water softener is installed in the basement on the main water line. This way, all the water supplied to your home is treated, whether it’s municipal or well water.

There are a few different types of water softeners, but we’ll mostly be going over the mechanics of a traditional, salt-based water softener, also called an ion exchange water softening system. If interested, we have also included information about salt-free water softeners later in the article.

How does a water softener work?

Through a process called ion exchange, water softeners remove the excess minerals found in hard water. Here’s how:

Hard water enters the water softener resin tank, which contains thousands of tiny resin beads.
These beads attract and hold onto the calcium and magnesium ions in the water.
As water passes through the resin beads, the calcium and magnesium ions are replaced with sodium ions.
The softened water, now free of hard minerals, exits the tank and flows through your home’s plumbing.

What is the water softener regeneration cycle?

During the softening cycle, sodium on the resin beads is exchanged for hard water minerals. After some time, these beads become saturated and need to be rinsed and “recharged.” This process is called regeneration, here’s how it works:

It begins by flushing a strong salt (brine) solution through the resin tank.
This high concentration of sodium ions “recharges” the beads by displacing the calcium and magnesium.
The brine solution containing the hard minerals is then flushed out of the system.
The resin beads are now ready to soften your water once again.

This process needs to be completed once a week for most homes. It should be scheduled during hours when you won’t need soft water as the system won’t be able to remove hard minerals during the regeneration cycle.

Salt-based vs. salt-free water softeners

Here at Enercare, we primarily offer salt-based water softeners as these are the most common and effective units. They come in a variety of sizes and work for just about every home. And while the traditional systems do add salt to the water, it is only in trace amounts which is rarely noticed.

Salt-free water softeners, like the name implies, don’t use salt to remove heavy minerals from your water. In fact, they don’t remove minerals at all. Instead, they condition the water so the calcium and magnesium particles can’t attach to any surfaces. It’s for this reason that they are more accurately described as water conditioners.

Salt-free water conditioners transform positively charged hard mineral ions into crystals, which can be rinsed away by water flow and don’t cause build up on surfaces. These systems dramatically reduce the effects of hard water and don’t require buying and refilling salt.

The downside to salt-free water conditioners is that because they don’t technically remove hardness, limescale buildup can still occur. It’s for this reason that these systems are not recommended for treating very hard water or for homes with heavy water usage.

Solutions for removing chlorine

While water softeners improve water quality in many ways, they don’t remove chlorine, a chemical added by municipalities for sanitizing water. For homeowners looking to remove chlorine, consider one of the following water treatment systems containing carbon filters.

First, there are water softeners with a dechlorinator. These systems both soften your home’s water supply and remove chlorine and other volatile organic chemicals.

A second option is a reverse osmosis system. These are installed at a sink to remove 90-99.99% of dissolved salts, metals and other contaminants, providing you with safe water straight from the tap.

Lastly, you can get a whole-home filter system installed at your main water line. This will filter out chlorine, heavy metals, industrial volatile chemicals and other toxins from your home’s entire water supply.

How can I find the right solution for my home?

With multiple water softening options available, it can be hard to know what’s best for you. For help deciding, you can reach out to an Enercare Expert.