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I HOW YOUR WATER SOFTEN WORKS
SERVICE
When the softener
is giving
you soft water,
it is
called "Service".
During service, hard water comes
from the house main water pipe into the softener.
Inside the softener
resin tank is a bed made up of
thousands
of tiny, plastic
resin beads (FIG. 19).
As hard water passes through
the bed, each bead
attracts
and holds the hardness
minerals.
This is
called
ion-exchanging.
It is much like a magnet
attracting
and holding
metals. Water without
the
hardness
minerals
(soft water) flows
out of the
softener
and into the house soft water pipes.
After a period
of time, the resin beads become
coated with hardness
minerals
and they have to
be cleaned.
This cleaning
is called regeneration,
Regeneration
is started
by the timer.
It takes
place in 4 stages or cycles.
These are:
WATER
FLOW THROUGH
THE
SOFTENER
IN SERVICE
Soft
Water
Out _
Resin Tank
Hare
_
Water
In
l
_Resin
Bed
[
_-} BRINING
[]
BRINE
RINSE
[]
BACKWASH
[]
FAST RINSE
WATER
FLOW THROUGH
THE
SOFTENER
IN BRINING
AND
BRINE RINSE
Hard
Water
Water
SyDass
In
Drain
REGENERATION
[]
B'RINING:
Salt, dissolved
in water, is called
brine. Brine cleans
the hardness
minerals
from
the
resin
beads.
During
brining,
the
brine
is
taken from the salt storage tank and put into the
resin tank. Brine causes the resin beads to tet go
of the hardness
minerals
and they are carried
to
the drain.
The amount
of brine needed
to clean
the resin depends
on 2 things --
-- The amount
of resin in the softener
-- How fast the brine goes through
the bed.
The nozzle
and venturi
(Fig. 20) make
suction
to take brine from the salt tank and put it into
the resin
tank.
They keep the brine flow
down
to a very slow rate to get the best resin
clean-
ing with the least
salt.
A salt saver valve, in the salt storage tank, meters
the amount
of brine used for each regeneration.
You can set it for different
amounts
(See page
22).
Salt
Storage
Tank
15
Nozzle
&
Venturl
[]
BRINE
RINSE:
After
the preset amount
of
brine goes into the resin tank, the salt saver valve
closes. Water keeps flowing
i n the same way as it
did during
brining
except
for the brine, which
has stopped,
Hardness
minerals
and brine flush
from the resin tank to the drain. Brining and brine
rinse together
total about 77 minutes.
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