What is the function of a water softener?
Water softeners are great for removing substances in your water supply that makes the water hard.
So, if the water in your house displays any of the following conditions it may be time to give your water softener a little attention:
- There is a build up of scale and watermarks around your taps.
- Soap and scum lines are visible around your sinks and baths.
- Your laundry fades to dull colours and whites have a dingy appearance.
- Glasses tend to develop an opaque look and dishes have watermarks.
All the above symptoms are the result of your water supply containing elements of magnesium, calcium, chalk, and lime.
These elements are what a water softener is supposed to remove from the water to make it noticeably softer.
Your skin and hair will appreciate the improvement, too.
There is a general misconception that water softeners filter water. Don’t be misled.
They will remove the above substances but will not remove other minerals like lead, mercury, and iron.
To get rid of the latter, you will need a water filtration system.
The maintenance schedule
Your water softener maintenance program will depend upon the age of your unit, but here we are going to go through what is required if any of the above symptoms appear.
The problem with whole house water softener systems is that they are so maintenance-free and their malfunction is benign.
The problem of neglected maintenance creeps up on you slowly and silently, so step number one in the maintenance of your water softener is to make sure you diarise a date to inspect the system.
Now that you have a date, let’s find out what the things are that you should be doing.
Maintenance tasks
Firstly, topping up the salt tank is not really maintenance. It’s a bit like filling up your car with gas.
You have to do that in order to keep the car running but it would be a bit of a stretch to say filling up was part of the motor maintenance plan.
Chances are though filling up the salt bath is the ideal time to consider undertaking some other maintenance tasks.
While we are on the subject of salt it would be worth your while to check up on what type of salt is correct for your equipment.
Solar salt is considerably purer than rock or coarse salt, and evaporated salt is the purist but also the most expensive.
Make sure you have the recommended type of salt.
And, as the tank is going to be emptied and then refilled make sure you have enough salt to fill the tank.
Also remember that coarse or rock salt is going to contain some impurities and consequently will also need to be changed at shorter intervals.
How to clean the salt or brine tank
The first thing to do is to close the valve to stop any water from flowing into the salt tank. This would normally serve to bypass the salt tank.
Next, all the salt in the tank needs to be removed.
For this a small shovel may be just the thing and once you have removed as much of the salt as possible it’s time to put a hose into the tank and partially fill the tank again.
Refilling the tank with water will help to take out any salt that is encrusted on the sides as well as any sludge that has formed at the bottom of the tank.
To remove the remaining salt and water a wet and dry vacuum cleaner is the ideal assistant.
Remember to remove the paper filter prior to removing the water.
Agitate the water to place as much of the sludge in suspension and then use the vacuum to remove the water.
Just a quick word of warning: Don’t dispose of the water from the salt tank on any vegetation you intend to grow because the salt solution will seriously put a halt to that.
Some salt tanks have a mesh at the bottom of the tank, and this should also be taken out and cleaned.
You can either clean the mesh and leave it out while you rinse the tank out with a solution of dishwashing soap and water, or refit it and then rinse.
It’s easier to refit the mesh when the tank was rinsed already.
Make sure that the tank is well rinsed by partially filling and emptying it with clean water to be certain that all the residue and soap has been removed.
Now that the tank is looking all sparkling and new it’s time to refill it.
Refilling the salt tank
Here you will need to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and refill the tank as you would do normally.
You will need to wait for a couple of hours before you return the valve to the open position to allow the salt to begin dissolving.
Maintenance of the salt content
Be aware of the problem when the system behaves as if there is not enough salt in the tank but when you investigate there appears to be plenty.
What has happened is that the salt has formed a solid bridge, and the water doesn’t make contact with it.
By tapping the side of the tank with a rubber mallet you may be able to dislodge the salt but if that doesn’t work some gentle direct tapping with a hammer may do the trick.
The important word is ‘gentle’.
Once you have successfully dislodged the salt bridge check that the true level of salt is correct and if your system has a ‘refresh’ facility it would be a good time to use it.
If you do discover that there is a salt bridge it would be good to dislodge it at a time when the system can rest for a while so that the salt can dissolve.
Typically, at the end of the day once everyone has gone to bed so that the system can have a couple of hours to get back into action.
Cleaning valves
Once you have corrected any salt issues it would be good to have a look at all the valves and perhaps with a little squirt of lubricant turn each valve and return it to the correct position a couple of times to make sure that everything operates smoothly.
It’s a quick little job that could prevent unpleasant situations when valves are stuck in the open position.