We can tell that you are a family of people who wants to use soft water that does not have hard minerals on a daily basis. Either that or you have extremely hard water coming from your tap. As we know, the water softener is supposed to remove hard minerals from the water. Water softeners reverse and prevent the effects that hard minerals have on your appliances and plumbing lines.
We are not going to waste your time by describing the functions of the water softener, assuming that you already have the softener installed in your house. However, we want to tell you the difference between when it is working and when it is not. Here we have prepared a list of the signs you can check when you want to know if your water softener is working.
Table of Contents
Things to Look Out For Whether Softener is Working
1. Regeneration
One of the easiest ways to tell if your water softener is working or not is by checking the regeneration cycle. If there is a timer set by you, you just have to check if the regeneration is being done or not. The resins of the softeners catch all the minerals from the water by following the process of ionization. Depending upon the system, this regeneration process is done. You can check if the regeneration process is being done or not when you have a doubt about whether the water softener is working or not. If the regeneration process is happening as scheduled, then your water softener is working.
2. Water testing
If you are not sure about your water softener and how many minerals it is removing from the water.
You can get a water testing kit. The testing of the water will tell you about the hardness of the water. However, with the help of a water test kit, you cannot figure out if your water softener is working or not, and you can always hire a professional to test your water and check if your water softener is working.
3. The noticeable difference in skin and hair
Softwater makes your hair and skin healthier and softer. If you are constantly using soft water daily, even for bathing, you will definitely see the difference the first time there’s hard water coming out of your tap. If the water softener is not working, the hard water coming out of your tap will make your skin feel dry or itchy; the same goes with your hair. If your water softener is working, your skin and hair will feel a lot softer, and your skin’s pore will be much cleaner.
4. Soap lathering
Soft water does not have minerals in them. Hence the soap lathering becomes easier, and there are more bubbles from the soap. When you are using hard water, the soap will be used more, and there will be no lathering. Therefore, when your softener is working, you will see the difference in the way soap lathers.
5. Water taste
Water with minerals taste different than water without minerals; if your water softener is not working, you will first notice. Or if you can notice any salty taste in your water, it means that the system’s regeneration is not working or your water softener stopped working. To fix that, you can check your water softener for its regeneration, or you can also check if the salt of the system needs replacement. If there are no issues like that, your water softener is working perfectly fine.
6. Changes in Water pressure
If your water filter is working perfectly fine, you will have perfect water pressure, but if the salt in your system needs replacing, the system’s media might need replacement. When you install the water softener in your house, you will notice the change in your water pressure significantly. It will remove all the scaling from the plumbing lines. If there is no scaling preventing water flow from the plumbing lines, the water flow from every tap of the house increases.
7. Better laundry and dishes
Once you install the water softener in your house, you will see a significant change in the washing of your laundry and dishes. The minerals in the water tend to jam or dry on the appliances and dishes. You might have noticed your crystal clear glass getting dull while you were using water with minerals. If your water softener is working, you will have your crystal utensils getting clear and cleaner. Even your clothes will be much shinier and cleaner.
Water softeners are the most efficient systems to remove minerals like calcium, manganese, etc., from the water. If in any way your water softener stops working, you will definitely see the difference in the water that you are using.
There are few things you can check on if your water softener is not working,
- Check if the regeneration of the system is working.
- Check if the salt needs replacement.
- Check if the taste of the water is different.
Other than this, you can pour some water into a bottle, add some drops of liquid soap, and see if the suds appear or not. If the suds do not appear, the water is hard, and you may require other testing methods to test how hard the water is.
What affects the water softener’s performance?
- When the maintenance is done poorly, there might be a build-up in the salt tank. That build-up will also affect your water flow.
- The water softener has a motor that causes the whole system to work. This motor has a certain life after which it does not work or stops working as efficiently.
- If the salt in the system is not replaced when there is a need for it, it will also impact the performance of the softener.
- The resin beads of the water softener also require to be replaced after a certain period of time. If you are using low-quality resins for the water softener, the performance will be affected as well.
- The water quality, the hardness of the water, etc., are also part of the reasons that affect the system’s performance.
Conclusion
A water softener is mainly installed to remove the hard minerals from the water. If your softener is working properly, these minerals will be removed, and you will receive the soft water.
It is really necessary to maintain your water softeners on a regular basis to ensure that you are getting the most efficient result from your system. If you have any doubts about whether your softener is working or not, you can refer to the points given above, or you can hire a professional consultant for the same.
We hope this article helps you in clearing out whatever questions you had on your mind.
