A list of water softener parts

As the name suggests, water softeners are primarily used to soften “hard” water. Hard water is water in which minerals like calcium and magnesium are present in higher concentrations. These minerals precipitate out of the water and stick to pipes, water heaters etc. eventually clogging them completely. They also react with soap and detergents to prevent the formation of lather, making day to day activities like bathing and washing very difficult.

Hard water can be softened either by filtration or by using a standard water softener. Since filtering all water required for daily use can be very expensive, water softeners are generally used. Water softener systems treat hard water by replacing the mineral (calcium and magnesium) ions with sodium ions, converting hard water into harmless soft water.

Water softeners working on the above mentioned principle of “Ion Exchange” were first introduced in the early 1900s. Since then, the basic assembly of a standard water softener has remained almost identical. The major water softener parts are explained below:

The Mineral Tank: It is that part of the water softener where hard water is actually converted into soft water. It contains a water softener resin bed charged with negative ions. As hard water passes through the mineral tank, the positively charged calcium and magnesium ions are absorbed into the resin bed, effectively creating soft water.

2. The Brine Tank: The brine tank is a major part of the water softener. It generally contains a mixture of water and sodium carbonate salts. Once a certain amount of hard water has been filtered in the mineral tank, the brine solution flushes the resin bed in the mineral tank. The calcium and magnesium ions trapped in the resin bed are replaced by the sodium ions in the brine solution; this enables the resin bed to continue extracting minerals from the hard water. Once this process is completed sucessfully, the brine solution is flushed down the drainage pipe along with the calcium and magnesium ions. Brine tanks need to be serviced on a regular basis.

3. The Central Processing Unit:  It can truly be described as the brain of any water softener. It consists of three parts: a meter, a valve assembly and a timer. The meter measures the level of calcium and magnesium ions in the resin bed and starts the brine flush when it is too high, the valve assembly helps pass water from one part of the water softener to the other and the timer is used to decide when the water softener is started and the duration for which it functions.

In addition to the above mentioned parts, Sodium Carbonate salt is also a very important component in any water softener system since it is of course the main “ingredient” of the whole system.