I hope this question is appropriate for this discussion. I installed a new water softener about 2 years ago. It seemed to work fine, as the water felt very “soft”. As time goes on, it seems like the water is less and less “soft”, despite turning the water softener “up” as far as it will go. It still uses salt, and the water feels better if the tank is very full of salt.
Is there a way to test the water “softness” so I am not being so subjective? Any ideas what may be wrong? I suppose it could just be me, but I visited a house recently with a water softener and there was a distinct difference.
Thanks,
Paul
Replies
Hard to say. It could be subjective, but there could be a malfunction in the softener. Sears softeners from about ten years back would often have a gasket blowout in the valve that caused this sort of thing, eg.
Get the water softness tested somewhere to be sure. (I think there may be some DIY test kits available.)
Have you backflushed recently?
A softener backflushes every time it recharges. It doesn't use salt unless it's recharging.
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DIYed or plumber installed?
Well water or city water?
Was the raw water tested for hardness content before the machine's regeneration cycling was set?
Do you know the PH of the water?
Any iron content in the water? If so, how much? (parts per million) Water softeners can only handle a limited amount of ferrous iron content and virtually no ferric iron. Excess iron will slug the media over time. If iron slugging is a possibility, pick up a bottle of Iron Out and follow the directions on the container. If badly slugged, you may have to clean it twice.
High chlorine content in water? This can break down the media over time. It would have to be awfully high to do this in two years time.
Metered head or day-clock unit? When you say you set it "up" as far as it will go, are you sure you went the right way? If a metered head and you reset the number indicating how large the media bed is to a higher number, you went the wrong way. That would make it regenerate less often.
What is the current salt setting? (how many lbs. used per regeneration) You really need to know the hardness of the water and size of the media bed to set this correctly.
How much salt is it using?
No one (kids included) has turned the bypass valve, have they?
Any chance this unit is plugged into a switched outlet? (like the unit only gets power when the basement lights are on)
What size are the pipes connected to the unit? Too little water flow at regeneration time and the media won't get properly flushed. The end result of that is a media bed with a constantly diminishing ability to do it's job. (same deal as iron slugging)
(A related potential problem would be if the discharge hose from the softener is looped too high above the unit.)
You should be able to take samples of both your "softened" water and a sample of your raw water to a local plumbing supply house and have those tested. Take a cold water "softened" sample right after a regeneration cycle of the unit to determine if any softening is taking place at all.
Edited 11/6/2006 9:39 am ET by HootOwl
You can purchase a softener test kit at your local pet shop. It is used to test aquarium water. Also, my local pet store will do the test for free.
Sears used to do the test for free, too. You could stop by Culligan or one of the other softener companies and have them test a sample of your water. They probably do it for free hoping to sell you a new softener.