Water Softener

Water is the essence of life! We drink it, bathe in it and water our produce with it. We swim, surf, dive and even exercising in it! Everyone loves great water for all these activities, and nothing feels better on a hot day than enjoying a nice cool drink of water or taking a refreshing dip to cool down. But is all water alike? If it looks clear, must be fine? Well not quite… we live in a country which has hugely different water sources and as such, there is varying water quality across our country, with the main difference being the hardness of the water. Pure Water Systems Real Water Softeners are the perfect solution for homes and businesses in areas with hard water. Each Water Softener System is prepared, supplied, and installed specifically for your needs.

What is Hard water?
Hard water is water that has a high mineral content. These minerals are generally made up of calcium, potassium, iron, and magnesium. The hardness of your water depends on the levels of these minerals.
You can often identify hard water by the mineral build-up on your taps, shower screens and appliances or you may notice your hair may be brittle or towels and sheets may resemble sand paper, this can be a result of hard water.

How do you soften water?
By simply removing the hardness from your water, it will not only promote healthy skin and softer, silkier hair, you will also notice softer laundry including your sheets and towels. You will also experience less mineral build-up on your taps and shower screens making cleaning a breeze. A real water softener can even reduce your electricity bill, as hard water can create a scale build-up on the hot water system, meaning the elements must work harder to heat through that scale barrier to heat your water. Don’t be fooled by inferior cartridge whole house systems, nothing works as well as a real water softener!

How do water softeners work?
So, how does a real water softener work? Real water softeners remove dissolved minerals by a process called ion exchange. This process uses electrostatically sensitive plastic beads called resin. This resin is specially designed to attract certain ions so, as the water passes it, the hardness is attracted. The resin is pre-rinsed with sodium ions so when an ion of hardness is attracted, an ion of sodium is released. As mentioned above, the main hardness ions are magnesium (Mg), potassium (K) and calcium (Ca), the combination of these is what leaves that white film on shower screens and the build-up around the outlet of taps.

The beauty of a real water softener is the low maintenance in comparison to inferior cartridge systems, which are commonly available on the market. A real water softener has a function which, when the resin beads are fully depleted of sodium, will reverse the process, and replace the captured hardness with fresh sodium ready to go again.

Difference between cartridge Whole House Systems and Water Softeners
A cartridge system requires you to constantly replace cartridges which, not only takes time, but also gets expensive, particularly if you are in a hard water area. As soon as the water has passed through the cartridge it starts depleting whereas, with a real water softener, a simple calculation will allow it to be set to auto-regenerate (for fully automatic models). A semi-automatic Water Softener requires the user to manually turn a small mechanical timer to initiate the softener's regeneration cycle, after which the softener will automatically shut off upon cycle completion. This means our water softeners only need a small amount of annual maintenance, plus a top-up of the brine (salt) tank.

Will my water be salty?
Water softeners use salt purely to regenerate by washing accumulated hard water minerals to drain and to recharge the softening resin by re-attaching sodium ions. When salt (sodium chloride) is dissolved in water, it breaks the ionic bond between the sodium and chloride. When the softener is in it’s regeneration cycle, this dissolved solution (called brine) is passed through the softening resin allowing the accumulated minerals and chloride to be flushed away and the sodium ions to re-attach to the resin bead.

Sodium without chloride does not have or leave a salty taste so once the re-generation cycle has completed, the treated water will taste ‘normal’ however as the real water softener won’t remove all the contaminants that can be found in tap water, we recommend also installing a filtration or purification system within your kitchen so that your drinking water is free of contaminants like chlorine, disinfection chemicals, herbicides, pesticides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) eg. benzene.

What size softener do I need?
The best way to check your water meter and note the time and usage, then in 24 hours check it again and note the increase, then multiply that figure by 365 and that will be your daily average usage.

Pure Water Systems Water Softeners are available for purchase by phone. Please contact our team on 1300 808 966 so we can provide you with your options for a water softener to suit your needs.

*Estimated shipping is up to two weeks. Free shipping only applicable for metro and selected regional areas. For rural shipping locations please contact our Product Solutions Team on 1300 808 966.