How much salt should my water softener use?

My wife had a baby in early September. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Before she came home from the hospital I had a UV light added to my water since she was worried that there could be bacteria in the water that wasn't harming us but could hurt the baby. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] I was OK with adding it since I no longer need to worry about a bacteria problem and I don't have to pay to have the water tested periodically.

While the plumber was there, I had him install a water softener. Our water tested to be moderately hard. I wasn't seeing any problems but I decided to have the softener installed anyway.

Finally, I get to the question. How much salt should the softener be using? The plumber put three bags in the barrel in early September and I can't tell that the level has changed much, if at all.

The softner has a dial. The dial is noted with the number of people in the house. The dial is turned to line up the number of people with the water hardness. In my case its set for 4 people and a hardness of 10. Based on the setting the softener does its job and regenerates at the appropraite time.

Should the tub the holds the salt have water in it? When first installed I could see water. Now I have to dig down into the salt to get to moist salt. There really isn't any standing water in the tub.

Finally, I was expecting to feel slimmy when we showered or washed our hands but this really isn't the case. We use all liquid soap products. Do the liquid soaps act differently, in softened water, versus bar soap. Or is it simply that we didn't have very hard water to begin with and the softener isn't making the water that "soft."

Until we built our house last year I always had city water. It was full of chlorine and tasted funny. The well water is a nice change from that but unfortunately I have no experience with water softeners.

Thanks,

Kip

It would help to know brand of water softener that you have. Did the plumber leave the operating instructions with the unit? If so, look at where the manual discusses salt bridge build up. The instructions should also explain how to change the setting to make the water softer, if you prefer more softness than what the installer initially set it up for.
It is possible that you have a salt bridge that needs to be eliminated. The instructions will tell you how to check and eliminate a salt bridge without damaging the water softener.
It may also be that your family is fairly frugal with water. For my two person household, we use only a half bag per month, On the other hand, my son's family of six uses a bag to a bag and a half per month, because their water use is more than doubled to ours. One bit of advice our installer suggested was to never fill the salt holding area with more than half full at a time. That way you can detect and break up salt bridges easier. I also use my hands to move the salt around the holding tank to ensure that it stays broken up. That's the best I can do without knowing more about your specific water softener.

Kip, Frugality doesn't enter into it (sorry JayHawk) from what you said the machine decides when to regen based on the two inputs you mentioned and not by output water condition. It will use the same quantity of salt every month whether or not the house is occupied and any water is used.

I can appreciate your health concerns being heightened by the new arrival. Does softened water go throughout the house? Standard water softeners that use salt (like yours) use an ion exchange chemistry where sodium ions (from the salt) are exchaned for the calcium ions (in the hardness minerals). The "hardness" acumulates on the resin beads where it is later washed down the drain when the system recharges with sodium (from the salt.) Nice laundry action. You'll save on soap. The shower will be way easier to clean. Baby will like the soft linens.

<font color="red"> Unfortunately, baby's long term health might suffer from all the extra sodium from the softened water. </font color>

It is good to NOT plumb the soft water to the ice maker or the faucets where you get drinking water. Also no need to use soft water to flush the toilets. Lots of plants don't like the sodium either so don't plumb soft water to the outside hose connections.

You can get an innexpensive hardness test kit at Sears/K-Mart or wherever and test to see if your soft water is in fact soft. Doesn't sound quite right from your description.

If you want a second opinion on whole house soft water distribution, ask someone besides the plumber.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]