Setting your Softener for High Salt Efficiency
Softeners do not all operate with the same settings regenerating at the same time with the same amount of brine. Our aim is to choose a size water softener for a family based on their water consumption and hardness level. Different softener size and hardness level pairings necessitate corresponding salt settings. Changing your water softener salt setting has the potential of saving you money on softener salt each month, assuming you have a low enough hardness level.
The graph below shows that as you increase the salt dosage for regeneration, the capacity increases less and less. This means that there is a sweet spot for the amount of salt we use for regeneration. Too little salt and you aren’t getting enough capacity out of your resin beads. Too much salt and we aren’t seeing enough of a benefit in increased capacity to warrant that higher salt dose. If we know the hardness level of your water, we can know how best to fine tune the settings on your softener to get the best use out of it and reduce unnecessary salt consumption.
As the hardness level increases, more of the softener tank’s capacity is needed to treat your water which then requires more salt to regenerate the softener tank back to full capacity. Here at Quality Water for Less, we use a low salt setting (6 lbs. per cubic foot) on water with hardness levels 0-12gpg, a medium salt setting (10 lbs. per cubic foot) on water with hardness levels of 12-25gpg, and a high salt setting (15 lbs. per cubic foot) on hardness levels 25+gpg. Let’s say for example you have a 32,000 grain capacity system and you have 15gpg hardness. According to the above graph and our salt setting thresholds, you would program your unit to use 10 lbs. of salt per regeneration, but this will also bring your capacity down to 27,000 grains. 6 lbs. of salt would only bring the capacity back up to 20,000 grains and 15 lbs. of salt, while it would bring the capacity all the way back to a full 32,000 grains, is 50% more salt for only 18% more capacity.
For real world application of programming a softener for a low salt setting, you would need to be running a meter demand system and then adjust both your brine fill time AND your softener capacity in the softener programming settings. This is because while you may indeed have a 32,000 grain capacity tank, the lower salt setting requires you to turn down the unit capacity to match it. If you place an order for a softener with us, you may add a note to your order including the hardness level so that we may fine tune your softener settings and save you as much salt as possible.
To add a note to your order, first add your softener to your shopping cart, view the shopping cart, locate the text box below the items in your cart, fill in your hardness level in grains per gallon (gpg) or parts per million (ppm) as well as any other notes for your order, and finally click UPDATE CART to save the note with your order. Then you may complete your order by filling in your shipping and payment.
At QualityWaterForLess.com, our primary focus is to serve all of our customers by providing them with custom water treatment solutions based on each of their individual needs. With a custom sized and configured treatment system from us, you and your family will be able to enjoy professionally treated water for years to come.
