GE GXSF40H Owner's Manual & Installation Instructions page 14

About the water softener system.
Service
When the water softening system is providing
soft water, it is coiled "Service." During service,
hQrd water flows from the house main water pipe
into the water softening system. Inside the water
softening system resin tank is a bed made up of
thousQnds of tiny, plQstic resin beQds. As hQrd
water posses through the bed, eQch beQd
attracts and holds the hQrd minerals. This is
called ion-exchQnging. It is much like a magnet
attracting and holding metals. Water without
hQrd minerals (soft water) flows from the water
softening system and to the house pipes.
After a period of time, the resin beQds become
coQted with hQrd minerals and they hove to be
cleQned. This cleQning is called recharge.
RechQrge is started at 2:00 AM (factory setting)
by the water softening system control, and
consists of five stages or cycles. These are FILL,
BRINING, BRINE RINSE,BACKWASH and FAST
RINSE.
Automatic Hard Water Bgpass During Recharge
For emergency needs, hard water is QvailQble
to the home during the rechQrge cycles.
However, you should avoid using HOT water
because the water heater will fill with the hard
water.
Fill
Solt dissolved in woter is coiled brine. Brine is
needed to cleon the hord minerols from resin
beods. To moke the brine, woter flows into the
solt storoge oreo during the fill stoge.
Brining
During brining, brine trovels from the solt storoge
oreo into the resin tonk. Brine is the cleoning
ogent needed to remove hord minerols from the
resin beods. The hord minerols ond brine ore
dischorged to the droin.
The nozzle ond venturi creote o suction to move
the brine, mointoining o very slow rote to get the
best resin cleoning with the leost solt.
Brine Rinse
After o pre-meosured omount of brine is used,
the brine volve closes. Woter continues to flow in
the some poth os during brining, except for the
discontinued brine flow. Hord minerols ond brine
flush from the resin tonk to the droin.
Backwash
During bockwosh, woter trovels up through
the resin tonk ot o fost flow rote, flushing
occumuloted iron, dirt ond sediments
from the resin bed ond to the droin.
Fast Rinse
Bockwosh is followed by o fost flow of woter
down through the resin tonk. The fost flow
flushes brine from the bottom of the tonk,
ond pocks the resin bed.
After fost rinse, the woter softening system
returns to soft woter service.
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