Ireland and other countries with hardwater have standardized home water softeners. Knowing how to operate a water softener is an advantage as it is a common household appliance. This saves you from having to call a professional to troubleshoot your softening systems, more info.
Most home softening systems use similar procedures and installations, with a few minor exceptions. All softeners will contain a space where the potassium/sodium can be placed. They have a brine and resin tank, as well as a main and bypass valves.
The main valve distributes water softened throughout your plumbing system. While the bypass valve is used to perform maintenance, it does not shut off water. The brine tanks is where you put water to be softened. There is also a control panel that controls the softening system.
Water must be added to the brine tanks before home water softeners can be used. The size and type of your softening appliance will dictate the water volume. You can find the recommended water amount in the manual. If you have lost the printed manual you can search the retailer’s site online for the online version.
You now have to decide whether sodium or potassium are best for softening your water. Sodium is cheaper and more common than potassium. However, potassium is recommended for people with high blood pressure and kidney disease. Salt and sodium intake can lead to kidney disease and heart attack.
Potassium can be used in place of salt. However, you should not add too much. Only add one bag potassium to your softening device. Too much potassium can actually make your water harder, making it more difficult to soften. This can be broken by using a stick.
Next, set the date/time on the control panel. For the machine to work efficiently, it is important that you also set the water’s hardness. You can check your water’s hardness by buying a test kit at your local hardware store. Increase the hardness level of water with high iron levels by 5 points for every 1ppm.
You can also control the recharge time. The home water softeners will automatically charge when the rest of the family is asleep. To fully recharge, the unit requires a certain amount of time without any hot water.