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Water Softener Frequently Asked Questions

1. How does a water softener work?
 
A water softener is simply exactly what it sounds like: a system or tool used to “softener” water. As water flows through the tank, the “hard” elements from lime and calcium will pass through the other minerals and interchange ions. It’s important to understand that the resin that is located within the mineral tanks have oppositely charged particles compared to the minerals that are present in hard water. When they come in contact with one another, it helps to catch the contrasting elements and therefore make the water “softer.” The more resin a tank holds, the more likely it is to catch these particles and remove them from the water coming through the tank. If you feel like your current water softener is not making the water as soft as you’d like, you may want to consider upgrading your tank size.
 
2. What is hard water, and what concerns should I have about hard water in my home?
 
All water has an abundance of natural minerals that made up its anatomy, including elements like calcium, magnesium carbonate, manganese, and magnesium. The presence of these minerals alone does not make water “hard,” but what does make it hard is when it has more than one grain of these minerals per gallon.
 
Luckily, our team at Boerne Water Softener Pros is able to test your water for hardness and other properties. In terms of recognizing hard water in your own home, the first thing you should look for is scaling on your pipes, faucets, and other fixtures. It water becomes hot, it begins to re-crystallize into these scales, and in turn, finds its way into your washing machine, showers, dishwasher, and water heater—unfortunately, this is detrimental to your plumbing and can cause soap scum to build up in your bath and shower. In turn, this can cause skin irritations, not to mention unattractive scum throughout your bathrooms.

Common Water Conditioning Questions

3. Why does soft water feel slippery in the shower?
 
When water becomes heated, it turns into scales. These scales make their way through the different water sources in your house, including your bathtub or shower. When the minerals that make up hard water (typically calcium and magnesium) come in contact with soap or laundry detergent, they form the soap scum that we had mentioned in question #2. Unfortunately, in addition to being an annoying substance that can irritate your skin, it also reduces the effectiveness of your soaps and detergents. In most cases, you can counteract this by using additional soap and water. Although, your clothes or dishes may still appear to be worn and dull. Luckily, a water softener, particularly one that functions automatically, can remove the minerals in hard water and replace it with traces of sodium—which won’t react with your cleaning agents. This will help to make sure your clothes, dishes, skin and hair and washed effectively and will no longer feel slimy or slick. 
 
4. How often do the resins in the tank need to be changed?
 
The resins within a water softener tank are the main driving factor behind its success. Many are under the misconception that those resins need to be changed often in order to keep your tank in good working order; however, in reality, as long as you are performing routine maintenance and using pre-treatments, then your resins should last for the entire lifespan of your water softener—which is typically more than 20 years. 

5. My softener value appears to be working but the salt level is not changing. What could cause this problem?
 
There are many different factors that could prevent your salt from going down—here are a few possible options:

• There is a mechanical issue with the value itself.
• The salt has become solid and has become a block at the end of the tank.
• There is a possibly that there is build up, undissolved residue sitting at the bottom of your tank, particularly if you’ve used pellet salt. This will block the flow of water, and the residue will not dissolve out of the tank.
• There is an issue with the value as it is failing to remove the brine solution from the tank, or there is an issue with your float shut off.
• There may be a clog that is preventing water from refilling the tank, this likely has to do with the brine refill control.

 
As you can see, there are a lot of potential causes that could cause your salt from going down, so we always suggest getting in touch with our team to remedy this problem.
 
6. How often do I need to add salt to the softener's brine tank?
 
In most cases, 8 weeks is the proper time frame to aim for when you need to refresh the salt in your brine tank; however, there are some factors that you’ll want to keep in mind that can change this. For example, you will want to be aware of how often your systems regenerates. More regenerate requires more salt—not to mention, if you ever notice your water level is above the salt, be sure to add more salt right away.