How Does a Water Conditioner Work?

Purpose

The purpose of a water conditioner is to remove the excessive magnesium and calcium ions in a household water supply and replace them with sodium ions. When water has excess minerals such as magnesium and calcium, it is called "hard water," and it is difficult to use for household purposes like cooking and washing. The magnesium and calcium will stick to pots and the interior of water heaters and pipes, eventually causing them to clog. It will also keep soap from lathering properly, and it creates a sticky substance that is difficult to rinse while showering. A water conditioner removes this problem by replacing the problem ions with the harmless sodium.

Process

A home's water supply is run through the water conditioner, which means that it is run through special plastic beads or a chemical known as zeolite (found in the system's conditioning tank). Either of these substances is full of sodium ions. Water runs through, and those ions replace the magnesium and calcium. Then, when you use the conditioned water that flows from your sink taps, it no longer has the annoying characteristics of hard water.

Regeneration

The zeolite or beads in a water conditioning system must be periodically regenerated which is done automatically by the water conditioning system as long as you keep it properly supplied with salt. They eventually get full of magnesium and calcium ions and no longer have any sodium ions for the water to pick up. The system flushes a strong salt solution through the beads or zeolite, which replenishes the sodium ions and forces the magnesium and calcium out through a drain.

Maintenance

Because salt is used every time a water conditioner regenerates, you must check it periodically and replace the salt as necessary. You can use rock, solar, or evaporated salt in a water conditioner. Rock salt is the cheapest, but it is not as water-soluble as the other types so you need to clean the reservoir more often when you use it. Evaporated and solar salt are both more expensive but also more soluble.