How can I choose the correct setting of water softener?
Getting a water softener modified to its optimum performance is a relatively simple procedure. Unfortunately, simple does not mean fast and easy and it will be a time -consuming operation. You will need to test water with a hardness indicator and testing taste for salt content. The correct adjustment of the water softener will increase its efficiency and reduce the maintenance needs. If you are using the right settings, you should expect many years of trouble -free service.
The first thing you need is a test method for water hardness. The test strips are the simplest and fastest to use. They should measure hardness or alkaline in parts per million (PPM). Check with a water softener or local hardware trade supplier. You may want to lead notes about your activities, record initial settings, hardness values and changes. These may vary from one unit to another. If your system is the type of regeneRace (DIR) initiated by demand, the timer setting will not be a problem.
Your first step will be to measure water hardness before entering the water conditioner to form a baseline. City supplies of water normally run about 8 ppm and in most locations will be well water from 22 ppm to 26 ppm. Your system output should be close to 0 ppm. If your system has recently been cycling and its output is not 0 ppm, you will need to increase the salt input. Divide the output hardness of the baseline to get a percentage to which you should increase the salt input.
If the water softener is set up by a professional installation program, you probably use more salt than you need, and you should reduce the salt in small steps. You should wait for the regeneration cycling rather than plan to immediately force regeneration. The previous salt charge will not be completely excluded. Do it untilEgistrate the hardness of water above 0 ppm in your output and increase the salt level to the previous settings. Now you can force regeneration if you wish.
When reducing salt input, you can shorten the rinse time, or you can wait and do it when the salt is finished. Use small steps again. When you can taste salt in the water, you went too far. Regeneration should not be necessary. Showing or washing the dishes is likely to clean excess salt, but be sure to increase the time of rinsing to the previous settings to avoid it in the future.
If you have an electronic DIR system, you are all set up. If you have a timer system or a system based on DIR, you can try to extend the time between regeneration to meet your home requirements. This may be difficult for the timer system because the use of households can be vigorous. If the laundry, washing dishes and showers performed according to the set plan, you should be able to get the most effective usefrom the softener of the water softener. If these tasks are in a diverse schedule, you may need to let your system run more often than necessary to cover all situations.
After shortening the time on the regeneration cycle, you will need to check the water hardness. You can wait for the number of days when you regenerate before your modification. Check the water hardness after this number of days. Continue to increase the regeneration time until you get water hardness reading greater than 0 ppm and return to the previous settings.