GE GNSF18Z01 Owner's Manual page 11

Cleaning Iron Out of the Water Softening System
Your water softening system takes hard minerals (calcium and magnesium) out of the
water. Also, it can control some (see Specification guidelines section) "clear water" iron. With
clear water iron, water from a faucet is clear when first put into a glass. After 15 to 30
minutes, the water begins to cloud or turn rust-colored. A water softening system WILL NOT
remove any iron that makes the water cloudy or rusty as it comes from the faucet (called red
water iron). To take red water iron out of water, or over the maximum of clear water iron,
an iron filter or other equipment is needed.
If your water supply has clear water iron, periodic resin bed cleaning is needed. Clean the
bed at least every six months, or more often if iron appears in the soft water between
treatments, using a resin bed cleaner. Follow directions on the resin bed cleaner container.
Resin bed cleaner is available from most hardware stores.
Sanitizing Procedure
Care is taken at the factory to keep your water softening system clean and sanitary. Materials
used to make the water softening system will not infect or contaminate your water supply
and will not cause bacteria to form or grow. However during shipping, storage, installing
and operating, bacteria could get into the softener. For this reason, sanitizing as follows is
suggested upon installation and once per year thereafter.
NOTE: Sanitizing is recommended by the Water Quality Association for disinfecting.
Be sure to complete all installation steps, including control programming.
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Mix about 3/4 oz. of common 5.25% household bleach (Clorox, Linco, Bo Peep, White
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Sail, Eagle, etc.) with about 1 quart of water. Pour the mixture into the brinewell. It is
important not to pour straight bleach into the softener.
IMPORTANT: Press and hold (for 3 seconds) the TOUCH or HOLD button on the control
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panel to start an immediate regeneration. RECHARGE NOW begins to flash in the display.
The bleach is drawn into and through the water softening system to sanitize it. This
sanitizing regeneration is over in about 2 hours. Then soft water is available for your use.
NOTE: When the above sanitizing regeneration is over, your house COLD water supply is
fully soft immediately. However, your water heater is filled with hard water and, as hot water
is used, it will refill with soft water. When all the hard water is replaced in the water heater,
hot only, and mixed hot and cold water will be fully soft. If you want totally soft water
immediately, after the above regeneration, drain the water heater until the water runs cold.
DANGER: If you do drain the water heater, use extreme care as the hot water could
cause burns.
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