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How Your Water Softener Works
FIG. 52
SOFT WATER SERVICE AND REGENERATION
SERVICE
When the softener is giving you soft water, it is called
“Service”. During service, hard water comes from the
house main water pipe into the softener. Inside the sof-
tener resin tank is a bed made up of thousands of tiny,
plastic resin beads. As hard water passes through the
bed, each bead attracts and holds the hardness miner-
als. This is called ion exchanging. Water without the
hardness minerals (soft water) flows out of the softener
and into the house soft water pipes. After a period of
time, the resin beads hold all of the hardness minerals
they can, and cleaning with salt brine is needed. This
cleaning is called regeneration or recharge.
Regeneration is started at 2:00 a.m. by the electronic
timer. It takes place in 5 stages or cycles.
These are: 1. Fill
2. Brining
3. Brine Rinse
4. Backwash
5. Fast Rinse
NOTE: If the Clean Feature is set to “On”, additional
backwash and fast rinse cycles occur before the fill
cycle.
REGENERATION
The five steps listed above are described in detail over
the next several pages.
FILL: Salt, dissolved in water, is called brine. Brine is
needed to clean the hardness minerals from the resin
beads. To make the brine, water flows into the salt stor-
age area during the fill stage. Fill cycle length depends
on how much soft water making capacity you have
used since the last regeneration. As you use more
water, fill time increases so more brine is made. The
greater amount of brine cleans more hardness minerals
from the resin bed.
WATER FLOW THROUGH
THE SOFTENER IN SERVICE
Soft Water
OUT
Hard Water
IN
Salt Storage Tank
(Salt not shown)
Brine Valve
Resin Tank
Resin Bed
Salt Storage Tank
Brine Valve
Fill Water
WATER FLOW THROUGH
THE SOFTENER IN FILL
Soft Water
OUT
Hard Water
IN
FIG. 51
Questions? Call The Kenmore Water Line 1-800-426-9345