Resin Tank & Brine Tank Maintenance
They say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” While this maxim is commonly used in preventative medicine, we believe it also applies to caring for your whole-home water softener. With proper care and maintenance, you can expect your Wolverine Water whole-home system to last for decades.
We’ll run through small steps you can take each month and each year to care for your system and address when it’s time to call in an expert.
How Does My System Work?
There are two elements to your Wolverine Water whole-home softener system: the resin tank and the brine tank. The resin tank uses ion-exchange resin beads to remove hard-water minerals from your home’s tap water (such as calcium, magnesium, and iron). When hard water passes through the system, the resin beads release sodium ions that bind to hard water ions, removing them from your water. The result is softened water, free from excess minerals, flowing through every tap in your home.
Over time, the resin beads become saturated, or full of the captured calcium, magnesium, and iron. They require regeneration or self-cleaning. The brine tank – filled with water and high-quality salt – uses the ion exchange process again to pull the calcium and magnesium ions out of the resin beads, cleaning the beads out and freeing them up to go and soften more water. The wastewater created from this process is flushed away, and the process starts all over again.
Caring For Your Resin Tank
While both tanks work together to ensure the system runs smoothly, they benefit from routine maintenance. Even with smooth-running regeneration cycles, sediment and film can develop on the resin beads, reducing their efficiency over time. About once a year, it is recommended that you treat the resin beads with a specialized resin bed cleaner. If your home’s water has particularly high levels of iron, it may be recommended to clean the resin beads more often (every six months or so). You can find resin bead cleaner at your local hardware store or by contacting our Wolverine Water team.
Caring For Your Brine Tank
Brine tanks can be more temperamental, so you’ll want to check the status of your brine tank once a month. The brine tank should be about half full. If you notice the brine levels dropping below the halfway mark, it’s a good idea to add more salt to the tank. If the brine tank has an inappropriate amount of water, it will prevent the essential regeneration process.
It’s important to use high-quality salt in your brine tank. For advice on which brands and grades of salt to use, check out this handy guide. If you use lower-quality salt in a Wolverine Water system, you may encounter salt bridging, where salt solidifies at the top of the brine tank, blocking the flow of water and disturbing the quality of the brine. Low-quality salt can also result in salt mush, a salty sludge that settles at the bottom of the brine. Either outcome indicates that your brine is not properly mixed and is therefore not working as intended.
Advanced Cleaning
Sometimes, the resin tank and brine tank require more advanced cleaning. This includes flushing both systems out, removing excess salt or sediment, and cleaning the inside of the units with soap and water or diluted bleach. If your system requires this level of cleaning and sanitizing, it’s essential to make sure that each component is cleaned completely and has time to thoroughly dry before reassembly. After the unit has been reassembled, it’s a good idea to let your taps flow for a few minutes to ensure any residual cleaner or bleach is out of the system.
How Do I Know if Something is Wrong?
Your whole-home water softening system uses simple chemistry to keep your water pure, clean, and free from excess hard water minerals. If you notice anything wrong with your water, such as poor taste or smell, an off color, an issue with water pressure, or the return of irksome hard water stains, it’s a sign that something is off in the chemistry of your system. Go take a look at the system yourself or call a Wolverine Water Expert.
We’re Here to Help!
Wolverine Water is proud to manufacture high-quality water purification systems. We offer free maintenance for the entire first year after installation and provide fast, efficient service on Wolverine Water systems and other companies’ units. If you are experiencing any issues with your whole-home water purification system, contact us, and we can help you enjoy pure, softened water again.
