How to Choose a Water Softener for Your Home

If you have soft water at home, you likely experience a stronger appreciation for your shower after staying at a hotel or showering at the gym. If you’ve noticed a difference in the way your skin and hair feel after showering away from home, it’s most likely due to your water softener. Having a water softener system in your home removes minerals that make water hard, like calcium and magnesium, and leaves you with soft water for smooth skin, shiny hair, cleaner dishes and more.

The many benefits of a water softener system make the decision to install one in your home easy. Here are a few things to think about when choosing the best system for your home.

The Hardness of Your Water

The industry-standard for measuring water hardness is the volume of grains per gallon (GPG). The amount of calcium and magnesium in your home’s water determines how much hardness your system will have to remove on a daily basis. You can use a water test kit or ask your utility provider to determine the hardness of your water.

What Size Softener Your Home Requires

The capacity of your softener controls the number of grains it can remove before regeneration. You can determine the appropriate size water softener system for your home by multiplying your water’s grains per gallon by the amount of water that is used per household, per day. A properly sized water softener will maximize efficiency and ensure you never run out of soft water.

What Controls the Regeneration Cycle

There are two main methods of controlling the regeneration cycle of a water softening system. If you choose a timer regenerated system, it will be set to recharge on a schedule with a preset timer regardless of your water usage. A demand-integrated regeneration (DIR) is most efficient and recognizes when your system needs recharging based on your water usage.

How Long Each Cycle Takes

Your home’s water usage and the capacity of your system determines how often your system regenerates. A typical water softener system takes anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half to recharge. Unless you have a dual-tank system, soft water is unavailable during the regeneration cycle, so it’s important to know how long cycles take for different systems.

At Kinetico San Antonio, we offer a variety of water softener systems for well or city water. Each of our systems is quiet, efficient and reliable. Call today for a free water analysis to help determine which system is best for your home.