Kenmore 420 Series Owner's Manual page 30

How Your Water Softener Works
SOFT WATER SERVICE AND REGENERATION
BRINING: During brining, the brine is moved from the
salt storage area, into the resin tank. Inside the resin
tank, brine cleans hardness minerals from the resin
beads and they are discharged out the drain. How
much brine is needed to clean the resin depends on:
• The amount of water used between regenerations.
• The amount of resin in the softener,
• How fast the brine goes through the bed.
The nozzle and venturi makes 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 cleaning with the least salt.
BRINE RINSE: After all of the brine is moved into the
resin tank, the brine valve closes. Water keeps flowing
the same way it did during brining except the brine flow
has stopped. Hardness minerals and brine flush from
the resin tank to the drain. Brining and brine rinse
together vary in the length of time they take, relative to
the fill cycle length.
BACKWASH: During backwash, water flows UP
through the resin tank at a fast rate to flush iron miner-
als, dirt and sediments from the bed and to the drain.
The bed lifts and expands for good cleaning.
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Questions? Call The Kenmore Water Line 1-800-426-9345
WATER FLOW THROUGH
THE SOFTENER IN
BRINING AND BRINE RINSE
Hard Water
Bypass OUT
Nozzle & Venturi
Brine Valve
Brine
WATER FLOW THROUGH THE
SOFTENER IN BACKWASH
Hard Water
Bypass OUT
Hard Water
IN
Drain
FIG. 53
Hard Water
IN
Drain
Resin Bed Lifted
and Expanded
FIG. 54