The rated capacity of a softener is the maximum number of grains of water hardness the unit can remove based on the salt dosage specified.

There are 3 main parts to a water softener:

1. The control valve which directs the operation of the complete system
2. The softening tank which contains resin beads that removes hardness minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
3. The salt tank which produces a salt-water solution cleans the hardness minerals from the resin, these minerals are then flushed away.

Hard water comes into the softener through the control valve and then goes down through the softening tank which contains the resin beads. The hardness minerals attach to the resin beads and when the resin beads are fully saturated with the hardness minerals, regeneration is automatically initiated by the control valve. During regeneration, a brine solution is drawn from the salt tank into the softening tank. As the brine solution passes through the resin bed, the hardness minerals are released from the resin beads and rinsed away with fresh water. The softener is now ready to provide soft water again.

As water travels through the ground, it dissolves hardness minerals such as calcium and magnesium as well as other minerals and metals such as iron and lead. This hard water finds its way to the water table below the ground and eventually to our homes, through a private well or municipal water supply. Water hardness will vary from place to place, even within the city.

A clean pellet or nugget style salt is recommended because it contains less dirt, dissolves evenly with less residue and prevents mushing and bridging. Rock salt tends to contain more dirt which builds up in the salt tank as un-dissolved mush which requires more frequent clean out.

We recommend that when the salt tank gets down to 25% capacity that you add 1 bag of salt. Today’s high efficiency softeners use much less salt and it is better that you don’t fill the salt tank to the top.

Water softeners add a minor amount of sodium to the water. You should, especially if you’re on a sodium-restricted diet consider the added sodium to your overall intake. If your water is 25 grains hard and you drank 3 quarts of softened water, you would consume 562 milligrams of sodium.

According to the U.C. Berkely Wellness Letter, when you wash in hard water, the soap reacts with the hardness minerals in water "to form an insoluble residue that's difficult to wash away." The "squeaky" feel/sound many people associate with being clean is, in fact, your skin sticking because of this residue. When you wash in soft water, you feel your skin the way it's supposed to feel, clean and silky smooth.

According to a report issued by the Water Quality Research Council, water softeners do not have any detrimental effect on septic systems and may actually enhance their performance in certain situations by encouraging the growth of additional bacteria.

In fact, the flow from the softener is typically less than the waste water discharged from an automatic washing machine. The studies credited the high levels of calcium and magnesium present, in the flow that results when the softener cleans itself, with improving soil percolation in many instances. The studies were conducted by scientists at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the National Sanitation Foundation.

It is not recommended to use softened water for lawns and gardens as it wastes softener capacity and provides no benefit for this use. When a softener is installed, the water line that goes outside for the lawn and garden can be bypassed so it provides hard water.