If you are one of the many households with a water softener in this country, there could be something in your water that is affecting your water softener resin – chlorine. Chlorine has been added into our drinking water for decades by water treatment facilities as a disinfectant to protect the public water supplies. While there is still a current debate about the safety of chlorine in tap water, we also want to inform our customers about how chlorine could be affecting the effectiveness of a water softening system.
What exactly is chlorine?
We won’t bore you with too many scientific details or the entire process. In simple terms, chlorine naturally occurs as a gas. When it is used for disinfecting water, it is in the form of what we call sodium hypochlorite, commonly known as bleach. It slowly releases the chlorine into the water to protect the water from any contamination of bacteria. It is a powerful oxidizer because it attacks the bacteria’s tissues and other organisms, killing them off. This helps to make our water more potable.
How does chlorine affect your water softener?
If you currently have a residential water softener, then we know that you expect results. You made a serious and informed decision to invest in softened water for your home with an efficient and effective product. The only problem is that sometimes, things like chlorine can actually affect parts of the water softener unit – in this case, your water softener resin. Similarly, if you are in the market for a new water softener, you may also want to consider all of this information.
During the softening process, water that has higher levels of chlorine will actually oxidize the resin beads. This will affect the process and reduce the life of the resin, sometimes by half! Some experts state that water softener resin that is exposed to chlorinated water will last about 10 years. However, de-chlorinated water will help the resin last more like 15 years! Don’t spend more money when you don’t have to! If your water softener isn’t working properly, or has high levels of chlorine, your resin bed could need to be replaced. But, there could be a way to avoid this costly replacement and make your resin last longer … read on!
Can you protect your water softener resin?
Yes! One way to protect the resin bed is with a water softener that has granular activated carbon (GAC) added to the resin bed which will mix in and then remove the chlorine. What’s the issue? It is not very efficient or cost-effective.
Alternatively, you can protect your water softener’s resin by removing chlorine prior to the softening process with a water filter. When you de-chlorinate your tap water before it is softened, you can improve the quality of your water as a whole while still enjoying all of the benefits of softened water!
Are you ready to protect your water softener investment and your water? We are glad to help! Home water filtration systems have so many benefits – this is just another one to add to the tank (or should we say, resin?)!
