How Your Water System Works - Kinetico Premier Series Owner's Manual

How Your Water System Works

Hard water contains calcium and magnesium. Your Kinetico water system
contains resin beads, which hold sodium ions. When hard water passes through
the resin beads (Fig. 3) inside a Kinetico water system, the beads attract and
hold the calcium and magnesium ions in exchange for sodium. After this ion
exchange process, the water leaving your Kinetico water system is soft.
Once the resin bed is loaded with calcium and magnesium ions, it must be
cleansed (or regenerated) so that it can continue to soften water. The salt in your
salt storage tank mixes with water to wash the resin beads. The brine solution
loosens the hardness minerals which have built up on the resin beads; then the
system backwashes and flushes the hardness minerals and salt solution away.
Once this is complete, the resin beads hold sodium ions. The system is again
ready to exchange the sodium ions for more calcium and magnesium ions.
Fig . 3
Softening
Cycle
Regeneration
Cycle
7