If you live in an area where there is very hard water, a water softener is a critical system that can help remove harsh minerals in your water. These systems also help to elongate the lifespan of other appliances in your home that rely on water. These systems bring a tangible difference to the way you shower, clean, and use water in your household every day.
Water softener systems, however, are not set-it-and-forget-it systems. As with any other functional part of your home, it’s important that you stay on top of maintenance for your water softener system. This improves the lifespan and ensures your system is operating as it’s intended.
At Rain Water Conditioning of Las Vegas, our professional techs are committed to not only providing the best water softener systems and water purification solutions for your home, but we’re also here to support you throughout the life and maintenance of your system.
Let’s dive into the details about water softener maintenance so that you have peace of mind, and ensure your unit’s functionality and the way it serves your home.
Why Do Water Softeners Need Maintenance?
For any homeowner in Las Vegas, a water softener is an essential system in your household, helping to improve the longevity of your plumbing system and the appliances that utilize water.
Water softeners are designed to filter out hard minerals in local water sources so that when the water enters through different appliances, like your washing machine, shower, or sink, you get great water.
Hard water is unpleasant for several reasons. It leaves behind cloudy water droplets on clean dishes, can make it difficult for soaps and shampoos to work effectively, can make your hair and skin feel dry, and impact your home’s plumbing because of mineral buildup over time.
Water softener systems use a process called ion exchange to remove harsh minerals. Resin beads in a water softener tank are coated with sodium or potassium ions and as water passes through the tank, the resin beads pull out hard minerals like calcium and magnesium.
Over time, however, this process of removing the hard minerals can wear down the components or effectiveness of your soft water system. Without proper maintenance the following may happen:
- Resin beads degradation: Aged resin beads will not soften the water as effectively.
- Salt bridging: Hard salt blocks may form, creating blockages.
- Decreased efficiency: Overall, your water softener system will work harder, while efficiency decreases, impacting the quality of clean water output in your home.
Water softener maintenance is essential in helping you stay on top of preventable issues and ensuring that you get great water.
Key Benefits of Regular Maintenance
As with any mechanical system in your home, regular maintenance brings with it many key benefits. Some notable water softener maintenance benefits you can look forward to include:
- Better performance: This improves water softener efficiency by tackling issues before they become larger.
- Longer lifespan: This extends your water softener’s life with regular maintenance.
- Fewer repairs: When you stay on top of small issues that require regular maintenance, you’re likely to avoid damaging larger components of your water softener system that could be more costly to fix.
- Cleaner, safer water: Maintaining your water softener system properly prevents bacteria growth for safer, cleaner water running through your household.
- Overall lower cost for clean water: Staying up to date on maintenance prevents costly repairs, which in turn, can lower the overall cost of your water softener system or the need to replace your system.
Common Maintenance Tasks Every Homeowner Should Know
There are some maintenance tasks that every homeowner should know when it comes to properly maintaining their water softener system. These are what you would consider the bare minimum of proper maintenance, and should be done routinely.
Let’s take a closer look at how to maintain a water softener.
- Refill salt regularly: You want to check your water softener salt level on a monthly basis, and more often during the summertime. When it’s time to refill salt, use high-purity salt because this will reduce sludge buildup.
- Clean the brine tank: Every year, you want to empty out and scrub down the brine tank to remove built-up residue.
- Check for salt bridges/mush: Salt bridges are the hardened salt clumps that prevent regeneration from taking place. You can break up these salt bridges by using a tool like a broom handle.
- Inspect for leaks or buildup: Regularly inspect your water softener system for salt residue, moisture, or strange noises that are coming from your system.
- Replace filters: You’ll want to replace your carbon or sediment filters every six to 12 months. This ensures that filtration happens as effectively as possible.
DIY vs. Professional Water Softener Maintenance
When maintaining your water softener system, there are some DIY water softener maintenance tasks you can do alone, while others will require a pro.
Safe DIY maintenance You Can Do
If there are issues with your water softener system, you’ll typically be able to identify them through the routine maintenance tasks you should be doing on a regular basis.
This includes tasks like:
- Refilling salt levels
- Checking for salt bridges
- Basic checks for leaks within your system
- Checking for strange noises
- Replacing filters
Some maintenance tasks should be left to the pros, however.
Some of these tasks include:
- Deep brine tank cleaning
- Resin bead inspection and recharge
- Valves and seal replacements
- Calibration of your system
At Rain Water Conditioning of Las Vegas, our experienced technicians know what to look for, how to inspect, and how to remedy common and advanced issues you might be experiencing with your water softener system.
Schedule your annual check today.
How Las Vegas Water Affects Your Softener
The water supply in Las Vegas comes from Lake Mead, which is fed by the Colorado River, a mineral-rich water source. As the water flows from the river to Lake Mead, it picks up calcium, magnesium, and other dissolved minerals along the way. This makes up the hard water that flows into your home, and other residential and commercial spaces in Las Vegas.
Along with softening the water, water softener systems help alleviate issues, like scale buildup in appliances and pipes from the flow of hard water. These systems also prevent soap scum, hard water stains, and issues with dingy clothing.
Explore water treatments like our water saving reverse osmosis system.
Seasonal Maintenance Tips for Las Vegas Homes
A good way to break down the routine maintenance of your soft water system is by having specific tasks to focus on throughout the seasons. Here are some seasonal water softener tips to know during the summer, winter, and during events, like dust storms:
- Summertime maintenance: Water softener summer maintenance is more robust because this is typically when water usage is at their highest levels, meaning this is when you should check your soft water system’s salt levels more often. You want to check roughly every two to three weeks. During the summer heat, you also want to make sure that your system is not overheating, especially if it is located in the garage.
- Wintertime maintenance: During the wintertime, insulate your pipes if your soft water system is not in a heated space to avoid water softener freezing issues. This is especially important if your unit is installed in a garage.
- During dust storms: Maintenance during dust storms is equally important because this is when excess dust can clog your system and impact its efficiency. Inspect and clean out vents as well as external filters to prevent clogs.
Signs Your Water Softener Needs Servicing
There are some signs that will start to develop if your soft water system needs servicing, or if additional maintenance tasks are required. Below are some of the most water softener repair signs to keep an eye out for:
- Soap scum returning: If you’re noticing that soap scum is returning and that your soap is not lathering as it should be, this could be an indication that hard water is returning. Depending on the issue, you may need to call in a professional to inspect and service your soft water system.
- Water feels “off” or tastes metallic: You might start noticing a metallic taste to your water, or the water might feel harder, or have a cloudier appearance to it. These are all indications that hard water is not being softened properly and a water softener service is needed.
- Salt usage drops off suddenly: If your system’s salt usage drops suddenly, this might be an indication that there is a salt bridge forming in the brine tank, a clogged injector, a blockage, a malfunctioning brine or float valve, or other issues within your brine tank.
- Softener runs constantly: If your soft water system is running continuously, this is an indication your water softener is not working properly. This might cause your unit to overcompensate.
What’s Included in a Professional Service Visit?
While maintenance on your own is essential, you’ll still want to have a professional come out every one to two years to inspect your soft water system. At Rain Water Conditioning of Las Vegas, our experienced technicians will ensure your system continues running as it should through our full-service inspection.
Here’s what you can expect in a professional service visit with our team:
- System inspection: We follow a thorough water softener service checklist to inspect valves, seals, and resin to ensure there are no cracks, buildup, or other issues that could impact the functionality of your soft water system.
- Brine tank cleaning: As part of a professional service visit, brine tank cleanings are included to help remove buildup and prevent bacteria growth from developing in the tank.
- Resin bead check or recharge: Our technicians will test regeneration cycles to ensure your system is running as it should.
- Efficiency tuning: We will also optimize salt efficiency, and tune your system to improve their overall performance.
Our technicians are skilled and thorough, and will identify and diagnose any issues that might be impacting your system.
How Often Should You Schedule Maintenance?
Scheduling maintenance is broken up into DIY maintenance checks and professional maintenance checks.
Typically, you’ll want to:
- Perform DIY checks monthly (the tasks listed above).
- Professional tune-ups, on top of your monthly maintenance checks, should happen every one to two years. Typically, the older your unit, the closer you want to keep those professional tune-ups to one year. Checks should be more frequent for older systems or larger households.
Schedule your professional tune-up with Rain Water Conditioning of Las Vegas today.
Why Choose Rain Water Conditioning of Las Vegas for Your Water Softener Needs?
At Rain Water Conditioning of Las Vegas, our pros understand the maintenance of water softener systems from the inside out. Locally owned and operated, we are one of the leading specialists in hard Las Vegas water throughout the valley.
With transparent pricing, quality service, and a satisfaction guarantee, our team is ready to help you address all your water softener issues so that you can keep your home’s water system running as it should.
You can learn more about our water softener maintenance in Las Vegas, services, service areas, and satisfaction guarantee when you visit us online. Check out our reviews to see what countless customers have had to say about our services and offerings.