What Does a Water Softener Actually Do to the Water in Oconomowoc Homes?

What makes water hard in the first place

Rain soaks into the ground and picks up minerals as it moves through rock. Much of the groundwater in southeast Wisconsin passes through limestone and dolomite, which give up calcium and magnesium along the way. Those dissolved minerals are what people mean by hardness.

Hard water is safe to drink. The trouble shows up when it's heated or left to dry, because the minerals come out of the water and stick to whatever they touch.

• White crust around faucets and showerheads
• Spots and film on glasses after the dishwasher
• Soap and shampoo that won't lather well
• Scale building up inside the water heater

How a softener swaps out the minerals

A softener has two main parts. The tall tank holds thousands of small plastic resin beads, and a second tank holds salt and water, called brine. As water flows through the resin, the beads grab calcium and magnesium and release sodium in their place.

Over time the beads fill up with hardness minerals. When that happens, the control valve on top starts a cleaning cycle called regeneration, usually at night when nobody is running water. Once it finishes, the beads are ready to soften again.

• Backwash: water flows upward to loosen the resin and flush out sediment
• Brine draw: salty water from the brine tank washes over the beads and knocks the hardness loose
• Rinse: fresh water clears the leftover brine and minerals to the drain
• Refill: the brine tank refills so salt can dissolve before the next cycle

What you'll notice around your home

Most people notice the shower first. Soap rinses off differently, and skin and hair can feel smoother. Some describe softened water as slippery, which is simply the absence of minerals that used to bind with soap.

The longer-term changes are quieter. Less scale means your water heater, dishwasher and washing machine aren't fighting a mineral layer, and you'll spend less time scrubbing faucets and glass shower doors. Many households also find they can use less detergent and soap than before.

What a water softener does not do

A softener is built for one job, and it helps to be clear about its limits so you aren't oversold. It does not remove chlorine taste or odor, and it is not designed to take out lead, bacteria, nitrates or other contaminants. Softened water is not purified water.

It can handle small amounts of dissolved iron, but heavier iron, rotten-egg sulfur smell or other well water problems usually need their own equipment. That's where well water treatment comes in. For chlorine taste throughout the house, whole-home filtration is the better tool, and for drinking and cooking water many families add reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink.

Softening also adds a small amount of sodium to the water. If you're watching your sodium intake, a reverse osmosis system at the kitchen tap removes most of it, or you can run the softener on potassium chloride instead of salt.

How we size and install a softener in your home

Sizing matters more than brand. A softener that's too small regenerates constantly and wastes salt, while one that's too big can sit idle long enough to cause problems. We look at how many people live in your home, how much water you use, your plumbing layout and the hardness you're dealing with before we recommend anything.

On install day we usually set the unit near where the main water line enters, often in the basement, add a bypass valve so you can shut it off without cutting your water, and run a drain line for regeneration. Many homeowners choose to leave the outdoor spigots on hard water, since there's no need to soften what goes on the lawn.

We take photos at each step, from the existing plumbing before we touch it to the finished connections and drain line, so you can see exactly what was found and what was done. Your quote holds for 30 days, and financing is available through U.S. Bank Avvance, on approved credit.