How Does a Water Softener Work in Berea, Kentucky?

Have you started to notice that your dishes tend to have smudges or spotting after coming out of the dishwasher? Do your clothes get more and more dingy with every wash? If so, you could have a hard water problem. 

Hard water isn’t necessarily dangerous, but why settle for lower-quality water when you can enjoy softer, better-tasting water? That’s where a water softener comes in. 

So, how does a water softener work, and why should you consider getting one for your home? Our team at Elite Performance Plumbing explains everything you need to know below, including when to schedule a water softener installation with a reputable plumber in Berea, KY.

What Does It Mean To Have Hard Water?

Before understanding how a water softener works, you need to know what hard water actually is. 

Hard water is simply water with higher levels of minerals like calcium and magnesium. While these won’t cause harm to your health, they can create other problems, such as:

• Shorter appliance lifespans
• Reduced energy efficiency
• Stains and hard water deposits on your tubs and showers
• Dry or irritated skin
• Dry, lifeless hair

Softer water still has these minerals but at significantly lower levels. That’s why soft water allows for better lathers and easier cleaning. 

How Can You Tell If Your Home Has Hard Water?

You can determine whether your Berea home has hard water by testing it using a store-bought kit or hiring a plumbing professional. These tests use grains to determine water hardness, with one grain being equivalent to 64.8 milligrams of calcium carbonate. 

If your test reveals that your home’s water is anything greater than 1 GPG (grains per gallon), then you have hard water. A reputable plumbing professional can help you find the perfect water-softening system for your home to get the water quality you want.

The Water Softener Process for Addressing Hard Water 

So, how does a water softener work? A water softener has a tank that contains thousands of little resin beads. These tiny beads filter out the chemicals and excess minerals in your hard water. 

How Does a Water Softener Work in Your Berea Home? 

When you install a water-softening system in your home, it connects to the main water pipe. The water from this pipe or well enters the softener tank, where the resin beads are waiting to remove calcium and other hard water minerals.

Once this happens, the newly softened water leaves the water softener tank and enters your home’s plumbing system to give you cleaner, better-tasting water. 

The Softener Ion Exchange

 As we mentioned above, hard water has high levels of calcium and magnesium, so how do the resin beads filter these out? 

The tank uses an ion exchange process to essentially swap out your water’s magnesium and calcium ions for the sodium that’s coating the resin beads. Although this process does involve adding sodium to your water, it adds very little. The average hard water removal system adds less than 12.5 milligrams of sodium per 8 ounces of water.

The Water Softener Salt Function

How does a water softener work if the resin beads are constantly attracting hard water minerals? The resin beads in your softener undergo a regeneration process to basically “recharge” their sodium levels. 

During the softener regeneration process, a saltwater solution we call brine flows through your tank and rinses the resin beads. During this rinse, the resin beads exchange the minerals they’ve collected for the sodium in the brine. Then, the brine, which now contains the hard water minerals, exits the tank and moves to a nearby drain. 

By the end of this softener regeneration process, the resin beads have enough sodium for the next round of hard water filtration. 

Enjoy the Benefits of a Water Softener for Your Berea Home by Calling Elite Performance Plumbing

As you can see, the water softener process is rather simple. All it takes is a tank full of salt-covered resin beads to filter out hard water minerals and provide your home with better-quality water. 

Although it seems simple enough, you should always rely on a professional when you need to install or repair a water softener. At Elite Performance Plumbing, our fully licensed and insured team loves helping fellow Berea homeowners embrace the advantage of residential water softeners. 

How does a water softener work, and could your home in Berea, Kentucky, benefit from one? Now that you know the basics and what this system can do for your water supply, contact us to test your home for hard water and get an estimate for a quality water softener and learn more!