What is a water softener?

Before diving into the details of how a water softener works, let’s first understand what it is. A water softener is a filtration system connected to the main water line that feeds into your home. Its primary purpose is to soften hard water. Not all places have hard water, but unfortunately, water is hard in the Houston metropolitan area. Hard water is found naturally in specific locations. Hard water results from soluble solids called scale. Scale is picked up by running water before getting to the processing plant. The problems related to hard water are numerous, but suffice to say that your home will be much better off without it. We will be talking about the issues of hard water in future articles.

How does a water softener work?

Water softeners work through a process called ion exchange. It eliminates calcium and magnesium from water. When hard water enters the media tank, it flows through a bed of tiny spherical beads called resin—usually made from polystyrene charged with sodium ions. The resin beads are anions, meaning they have a negative charge. The calcium and magnesium minerals have a positive charge, making them cations. Since opposites attract, the resin captures all these scale particles as water moves through them, leaving behind softwater. 

In order to maintain the process, the system washes the resin with a sodium solution that clears the scale from the resin in a process called regeneration—recharging the resin with the sodium ion. That is where the brin tank and salt come into play.

Our higher-end equipment solutions take the process to the next level. These softeners have a lift and spin patented feature that allows the resin to more effectively capture the hardening elements in the water by allowing even more contact with the resin during the ion exchange process.

In conclusion, a water softener is not an overly complex system, but it does require a valve that allows for the entire process to take place.