Before installing a water softener, it is important to consider a number of factors so as to make the installation successful and worthwhile. Choose an appropriate location by looking at factors such as accessibility, supply lines, safety, electricity, and security. You should also ensure that you make yourself familiar with basic parts of a water softener such as the inlet/outlet, control valve, riser tube, brine tank and much more. Furthermore, determine the water lines and decide which one will connect the hard water to the inlet of the water softener.
Steps for Installing a Water Softener
- You can begin by pulling off or simply removing the valve that is positioned on the mineral tank.
- Plug one open side of the riser tube for a short while. This is important because it helps to ensure that neither gravel nor resin is distributed unnecessarily.
- This is then followed by filling the mineral tank to about 25% of its capacity. This also prevents distribution especially in the process of installing gravel.
- Place materials that support the gravel commonly referred to as the gravel bed at the tank bottom slowly and in a careful way. You can also add softener media, one by one in layers inside the tank.
- Unplug the riser tube. Then position the valve over the riser tube as you slowly and gradually change the valve into the threads in the fiberglass tank. Make sure that you tighten it properly so that it can fit well into the tank. Just ensure that O-ring found inside the valve fits in a secure manner into the riser tube of the water softener.
- In order to make the process of installation much easier and faster, you may decide to use some specific lubricants to reduce friction and ensure a smooth installation. Silicone grease is highly recommended as well as other food-grade lubricants. They are normally applied to the O-ring during the installation process. Care should be taken not to use any petroleum products as a lubricant. This is because they make the O-rings and seals to begin swelling. This reduces the overall efficiency of installation thus highly discouraged.
- Add resin to the softener tank. Fill the softener tank with water completely up to the brim. This should be done slowly. This ensures that all the resin is soaked up before starting to use the water softener. This high amount of water inside the softener tank also enables the media and other materials placed at the bottom to absorb enough water. This helps to displace any air that may be trapped inside. The removal of air minimizes resin backwash, especially when initiating a startup. Resin beads help to eliminate calcium and magnesium impurities which cause water hardness. They simply filter out hard water chemicals.
- Apart from the resin, also consider adding some salt inside the softener tank. About 40kg of crystal salt into the brine tank is desirable. Salt will help to clean the resin during the regeneration cycle in order to maintain optimum results in the water softening process.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the procedure for installing a water softener is simple and straight forward. Just ensure that you choose an appropriate location and apply the above steps. Once you’ve installed your water softening system, read through this guide on how to operate your new softener.
