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Audit to optimize an installed hard water softener

Audit to optimize an installed hard water softener.

If you have a water softening system for your home or industry. The idea was to save money and improve your home's water quality or meet a water quality for a production process or water compliance. But how do you know if it is working properly, and if there is a problem with the system that needs to be fixed? In this brief, I'll show you how to audit your softener so you can optimize its use and reduce costs over time.

Water Softener Quality Audit

As a homeowner, you're probably asking yourself "Why should I hire this guy to come check my water softener?". Well, let me tell you. If your water softener or water softener isn't working properly, it can cause all kinds of problems. For example:

  • May have hard water stains on glass shower doors or windows and clog showers and faucets.
  • Crockery does not stay clean when washed in the dishwasher (this is because hard water does not rinse as easily as soft water).
  • Your clothes may become stiff after washing (detergents do not lather well in hard water).
  • The manufactured product does not meet the necessary quality control requirements.
  • Piping or heaters can be damaged by clogging with carbonate scale.

So how do you know if your system has been compromised? It's simple. Take a few minutes each month to perform some basic checks, and you'll ensure that everything runs smoothly for years to come.

Compare model numbers and options

To begin with, you should know that there are two different types of softeners: with mechanical and electronic valves. The valve model number will help you differentiate between them. Each valve has a flow specification, pressure drop, some have a flow meter for cation resin regeneration, others are timed.

Validate the flow rate

Flow rate is the amount of water that passes through your softener in a given period of time, usually measured in gallons per minute (gpm). Flow rate has two components: regeneration cycle and regeneration pulse. The regeneration cycle is the frequency with which the system is regenerated, or flooded with salt to remove water hardness that saturated the cation resin. The more often you regenerate, the faster the salt supply will be depleted and you will need to replenish it, this can be accurately calculated with a hardness analysis and the required water flow. If you have a high flow rate it is necessary to check pipe diameters and pumping to optimize service, backwash and regeneration flows.

Validate salt dosing (brine)

The amount of brine dosing is a critical component for proper operation of the softener. It must be adjusted to the hardness of your water. If your water has excessive hardness, increasing the salt dosage will help to exchange water hardness (calcium and magnesium). If your water has very low levels of these two dissolved minerals, but the frequency of salt dosing will be determined by the service water flow and hardness analysis, remember that there should always be enough salt present at all times to provide efficient use of the regenerant to the resin tanks.

Review process losses

Process loss is the percentage of water that is wasted or rejected during a regeneration and backwash process. It can be calculated by dividing the total amount of reject in the entire system by the amount of input water and multiplying this figure by 100. The resulting percentage is referred to as "effluent loss" or "process loss," depending on whether the effluent is from a water softener or any other system with similar characteristics. Process losses often refer specifically to waste in industries such as manufacturing and mining, where raw materials must be converted into finished products before they can move on from their starting point. Softeners work in a similar way: once all the salt has been added, some is wasted due to evaporation or other factors such as improper setup/maintenance procedures (which we will discuss later). Even when everything is working properly in these systems, there will always be some amount that gets lost along the way, and since it is impossible for every drop of the inputs to these types of systems not to end up as waste, unless we invent some sort of magical technology (and if we do, please let me know immediately), it's important for managers to make sure they are aware of how much those losses can add up over time so they can take appropriate action when necessary, whether it's using less salt than usual until repairs can be made or upgrading equipment parts ahead of schedule so nothing breaks unexpectedly mid-line.

What is the estimated daily water consumption of the system?

Let's assume that you have a water softener in your home and you want to know if you are using it correctly. To do this, we will need two things:

  • The estimated daily water consumption of the system.
  • The actual amount of water used by your household on a given day (excluding toilet flushes).
  • Or in a production line, how long it takes to empty a tank or fill it.

Measuring total hardness

Measuring total hardness is simple. The first step is to determine what type of water you are working with. If it is city water, use the following measurement:

  • Take a sample at the entrance or at a point of use.
  • You can take the water sample to a laboratory where they can determine the hardness with specialized equipment or purchase a colorimetry kit to do it on site.
  • Also measure the overall TDS (total dissolved solids) with a TDS meter. Only additional to check the overall condition of the water.

To get an accurate reading, take samples from several different locations. This is necessary because some areas may have higher concentrations than others due to factors such as mineral deposits or nearby industrial sites that can leach into the groundwater and cause unwanted elements to appear in the water.

What is the total hardness profile?

The total hardness profile is a graph of total water hardness over time. It can be used to determine the capacity of your system, as well as other useful water quality information.

What is the capacity of the water softener to treat the existing total hardness levels?

You can always add more resin to your softener or add equipment in parallel to avoid shutting down the softener while a tank regenerates. After all, you can't have too much of a good thing.

Cost savings can be achieved by auditing a water softening system.

The purpose of this guide is to provide you with the information you need to effectively audit your water softening system. You can save money by optimizing your equipment and reducing energy and chemical waste. Water conditioning systems are complex, so it is not always easy to know what the next step should be. This article will help you identify potential problems and provide some tips on how to fix them. The water softening system audit is not intended to scare you, but to alert you to the amount of money that can be saved by optimizing water treatment. The cost savings from auditing a system and optimizing it will pay for itself many times over in savings over time.

If you have any questions about this process or need help with your own decalcification system, please contact us today.

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