InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website. Diagnose & Fix Water Softener Problems: This article series describes procedures for diagnosing and repairing water softener or water conditioner problems including water conditioner control settings and adjustment or repair, brine tank and brine tank float cleaning and repair, and the proper amount of water softening or conditioning that is needed. This water softener repair article describes what to check first if the softener is not working properly. Also see the FAQs at the end of this article for examples of water softener problems & solutions. We also provide a to this topic, or you can try the page top or bottom as a quick way to find information you need.
EcoWater eVOLUTION Owner Manual. EcoWater eVOLUTION Installation Manual. EcoWater ESM+ Owner Manual. EcoWater ESM+ Installation Manual. EcoWater 3500 Range Installation Owner Manual. Hydralink Remote Manual. EcoWater Reverse Osmosis Manual. EcoFresh Installation Instructions. EcoWater Counter Top Distiller. OLDER ECOWATER SOFTENERS. All your water filtration needs in one place. We service all residential and commercial water filtration systems in Connecticut.
Owner's Guide to Diagnosing A Water Softener that Is Not Working Properly Article Series Contents Click to enlarge any image. for softeners stuck in 'regen' mode. Water Softener Checklist: if the Softener is Not Working Check These First Water Softener Not Producing Soft Water if the water softener doesn't seem to be doing anything, check these items:.
Check the water softener bypass valve: You want first to see that the water softener is not on 'bypass' - is household water flowing through the unit? A sketch of an Autotrol bypass valve is shown at left.
Details about how to use the water softener bypass valve are at This valve is an option and may not be installed on your unit. But there may be standard plumbing valves or photo that accomplish the same purpose. Check power to the water softener: If the unit uses electricity to run a timer be sure it's plugged in to a live outlet and has power. Some water conditioners use a low-voltage transformer to power the control - be sure that device is present, plugged in, and working. You can use a simple VOM to check that the transformer is outputting DC at the proper voltage level.
See. Check the salt tank: Is there salt in the salt tank? If the water softener produces soft water but the soft-water runs out before the scheduled or normal regeneration cycle time check the following: Brine tank debris or salt mushing: accumulated silt or debris or powdered mushy salt in the bottom of the tank (above the salt grid plate) may prevent the preparation of the proper amount of brine needed for regeneration. Resin in the treatment tank may not be adequately re-charged with salt.
See then see Brine draw cycle defects such leaks in tubing or at a control valve or improper brine tank float adjustment can cause inadequate regeneration cycle salt quantity, water volume, or duration. See. Manually run a regeneration cycle: Then try a manual regen cycle - you'll see on most units a lever you can push or on electronic control heads, a push-button on the control box to start the process.
Set the water conditioner controls: Set the right doses and regen cycles for your water hardness and level of water usage See. Watch the water conditioner timer: it is possible that the timer mechanism itself has failed. You should see the timer wheels or clock wheels turning and, if you try setting a regen cycle at every day (just for starters) you should see and hear the system go through a regeneration cycle automatically the very next night. Feel and test the water supply: if you still can't get a lather when bathing the water may be insufficiently treated, or if the water feels slimy and you have trouble washing soap off, the water may be over-treated. Test the water for hardness so that you know how to set the controls. Potassium chloride in use instead of salt in your water softener?
As we explain at, different water softener settings will be required if you're using KCl. How to Get a Water Softener Working & Confirm that It Works Correctly Before replacing a water softener - a step that may not be necessary, here are some things to try:.
Make sure that the water softener is actually 'on' and working, that is, that the system has electric power, valves turned on, not left on 'bypass'. Make sure the water softener is clean and that no debris is blocking any water passages or tubing. See Also see. Make sure that the salt tank is properly filled. If the salt tank has stayed 'full' for a long time, either no salt is being used (improper operation) or a crust of salt has formed over a virtually empty tank. Poke around into the salt to be sure the salt tank is really there.
See. Run an extra water softener regen cycle - use the water softener control to run the equipment through an extra cleaning/regeneration cycle.
Watch the water softener control or check it frequently for several days to be sure the control is actually working and that it is cleaning and regenerating the water softener salt dose regularly. Test the incoming water for hardness so that you know what level of treatment is required. See and. Test the water softener output water for hardness and if you like, also test the output water salt level for excess salt. Check the water softener control adjustments. If the equipment appears to be working, but water is still too hard (or has too much mineral content) you can increase the salt dose or the backwash/regeneration cycle frequency.
See and. If the water softener is leaving too much salt in the water, reduce the salt dose on your softener's controls. You may see this as a thin salty film left at faucets or in a dishwasher. Mineral scale may also be a thin hard white deposit but is a separate problem not a too-much-salt problem. See and.
Call for professional help with the water softener. If the equipment is not visibly broken, damaged, leaking, and/or you don't want to mess with it yourself, most water softener companies will be glad to send a service technician to your home to inspect, clean, adjust, and test the equipment. Try these water softener diagnosis and repair steps before rushing to replace the water softener itself. 1 North Dakota Standards for Water Softeners, North Dakota General Authority Law, Chapter 62-04-08, Water Softener Units 'The objective of this chapter is to provide a standard of quality, capacity, and performance for water softener units.
Water softener performance is to be based upon referee tests procedures described in section 62-04-08-09.' . 2 Culligan Mark 10 Water Softener 1994-1998 Installation and Operating Instructions (covering models manufactured after 1995) (1-96) 01881948.pdf available from www.culligan.com. 3 Water Softeners, CMHC, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/maho/wawa/wawa005.cfm - October 2008.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation acknowledges the contribution of Health Canada to the development of this document. For further questions regarding water treatment and water quality, contact Health Canada at or call 613-957-2991 or 1-866-225-0709. 4 'Commercial Water Softener Installation and Operating Instructions', IBC Filtration & Water Treatment Products (Australia) for commercial, industrial and residential application www.ibcwater.com.au (07) 3219 2233. 5 'Non electric water softener, Installation and Operating Instructions', IBC Filtration & Water Treatment Products (Australia), op.cit. 6 'Water Softener Twin Tank Installation and Operating Instructions', IBC Filtration & Water Treatment Products (Australia), op.cit. 7 Our used at originated with but was edited and added to from and also from. 8 Thanks to reader Gail Sanchez for discussing water softener backups and floods after an electrical outage - August 2010.
9, 1900 Prospect Court Appleton, Wisconsin 54914, Tel: 920-739-9401, Website: and their water softener manuals are available online at. 10 General Electric Corporation, Operation Manual, 740/760 Water Conditioner or Water Softener Control, 255 and Performa Series Valves, (268, 268 FA), General Electric Corp. 2007. 11 Ecodyne Industrial, 1270 Frontenac Road, Naperville, IL 60563 Tel: 1 800-228-9326 (USA Only) Tel: +1 630-961-5043 Fax: 1 800-671-8846, Customer Service: 1 800-228-9326, Email: [email protected], Website:., Woodson, R. Dodge: $ 24.95; MCGRAW HILL B; TP; Quoting from Amazon's description: For the homebuilder, one mistake in estimating or installing wells and septic systems can cost thousands of dollars.
This comprehensive guide filled with case studies can prevent that. Master plumber R. Dodge Woodson packs this reader-friendly guide with guidance and information, including details on new techniques and materials that can economize and expedite jobs and advice on how to avoid mistakes in both estimating and construction. Chapters cover virtually every aspect of wells and septic systems, including on-site evaluations; site limitations; bidding; soil studies, septic designs, and code-related issues; drilled and dug wells, gravel and pipe, chamber-type, and gravity septic systems; pump stations; common problems with well installation; and remedies for poor septic situations. Woodson also discusses ways to increase profits by avoiding cost overruns., Hartigan, Gerry: $ 9.95; ALAN C HOOD & TP; Quoting an Amazon reviewer's comment, with which we agree-DF: This book is informative as far as it goes and might be most useful for someone with an older system.
But it was written in the early 1980s. A lot has changed since then. In particular, the book doesn't cover any of the newer systems that are used more and more nowadays in some parts of the country - sand mounds, aeration systems, lagoons, etc. 'International Private Sewage Disposal Code,' 1995, BOCA-708-799-2300, ICBO-310-699-0541, SBCCI 205-591-1853, available from those code associations. 'Manual of Policy, Procedures, and Guidelines for Onsite Sewage Systems,' Ontario Reg.
374/81, Part VII of the Environmental Protection Act (Canada), ISBN 0-7743-7303-2, Ministry of the Environment,135 St. West, Toronto Ontario M4V 1P5 Canada $24. Manual of Septic Tank Practice, US Public Health Service's 1959., Art Ludwig; Buy New: $10.17. Installation of Greywater Systems in New Construction & Remodeling; A Supplement to the Book 'Create an Oasis With Greywater' (Paperback).
Quoting a review from Amazon: I recommend that you get the 3 companion books on greywater treatment 'Create an Oasis', 'Branched Drain Greywater Systems' and 'Builder's Greywater Guide'. The information in these volumes will keep most of us far more informed than most of the regulators, the system builders, and the experts-in-theory. These volumes are real-world gems.
Art Ludwig has cut to the core of wastewater issues. He's obviously done all of his homework, mulled-over the variables, and come up with a common sense, economically reasonable, environmentally responsible approach to wastewater. I expect to save money that I would have spent on a post-septic tank, aerobic unit that would seemingly have been ecologically responsible; but because of the technological overkill, ultimately that system would have defeated my altruistic environmental concerns. These books talk the talk and walk the walk better than anything else that I've seen. Buy a set for yourself, a set for your neighbors, and a set for the regulators. (Paperback) Sim Van Der Ryn, Wendell Berry; Quoting from an Amazon review: With a title like 'Toilet Papers' and from a distinguished eco-architect like Sim Van der Ryn, I needed no intro or review to buy a copy of this little, but well researched historical over-view of effluent mitigation and current eco-friendly toilet design.
This book is filled with good line drawings and photographs to depict everything from the historical perspective to the current dry toilets and their construction., (Paperback) Rolf Hasse. I have not reviewed this book -DF, but it may be helpful to people constructing rainwater collection and reservoir systems for use in arid climates such as Mexico and the U.S. Quality issues in harvested rainwater in arid and semi-arid Loess Plateau of northern China, K. Chen (out of print, find by search and deferred order).
Amazon's description may be helpful: Loess soils cover vast areas in the arid and semi-arid regions of northern China. Due to the lack of reliable surface water and ground-water, rainwater harvesting has played a prominent role in farmers' domestic usage and agricultural irrigation. An economical and valid type of water storage cistern with optimum design of components has been introduced to rural areas in the Loess Plateau. Different collection alternatives showed apparent variations in rainwater quality.
By using different catchments, such as mortar roofs and cement-paved courtyards, compacted land or road surfaces, rainwater can be effectively collected for storage in cisterns. This study focused mainly on the quality of rainwater harvested from the different catchment systems and stored for different periods of time. By analysis of the water samples stored in these cisterns, it was evident that rainwater quality could be improved significantly by self-purification during the storage. With emphasis on rainwater quality affected by the different catchment systems, it was found that the measured inorganic compounds in the rainwater harvested from roof-yard catchment systems generally matched the WHO standards for drinking water, while the concentrations of some inorganic compounds in the rainwater collected from land and road surfaces appeared to be higher than the guideline values for drinking water, but generally not beyond the maximum permissible concentrations. However, Fecal Coliform, which is an important bacteriological parameter for the three catchment systems, exceeded the limits of drinking water to a greater extend. Trace amounts of 55 organic pollutants were identified, including aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic compounds and phthalate esters, etc.
The analytical results indicated that roof-yard catchments that included the 'first flush' usually provided safe drinking water with low organic contents, even for rainwater collected immediately after rainfall. In contrast, rainwater harvested from road surfaces had poor quality with respect to the organic constituents, regardless of stored time. City eying home water-recycling technology; uses bath and washer water for irrigation., (ReWater Systems' equipment for greywater irrigation): This is an article from: San Diego Business Journal HTML (Digital) available online in digital format. I have not (yet) reviewed it - DF., R. Perkins; Quoting from Amazon: This practical book, co-published with the National Environmental Health Association, describes the step-by-step procedures needed to avoid common pitfalls in septic system technology. Valuable in matching the septic system to the site-specific conditions, this useful book will help you install a reliable system in both suitable and difficult environments.
Septic tank installers, planners, state and local regulators, civil and sanitary engineers, consulting engineers, architects, homeowners, academics, and land developers will find this publication valuable., Mary Margaret Minnis, Hogarth House 1994 - one of the best septic system books around, suffering a bit from small fonts and a weak index. (DF volunteers to serve as indexer if Burks/Minnis re-publish this very useful volume.)While it contains some material more technical than needed by homeowners, Burks/Minnis book on onsite wastewater treatment systems a very useful reference for both property owners and septic system designers. We refer to it often. While Minnis says the best place to buy this book is at Amazon (our link at left), you can also see this book at Minnis' website at. Septic Tank/Soil-Absorption Systems: How to Operate & Maintain copy on file as /septic/SepticOperationUSDA.pdf -, Equipment Tips, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 8271 1302, 7100 Engineering, 2300 Recreation, September 1982, web search, original source:., R.
Dodge Woodson. This book is in the upper price range, but is worth the cost for serious septic installers and designers. Quoting Amazon: Each year, thousands upon thousands of Americans install water wells and septic systems on their properties. But with a maze of codes governing their use along with a host of design requirements that ensure their functionality where can someone turn for comprehensive, one-stop guidance? Enter the Water Wells and Septic Systems Handbook from McGraw-Hill. Written in language any property owner can understand yet detailed enough for professionals and technical students this easy-to-use volume delivers the latest techniques and code requirements for designing, building, rehabilitating, and maintaining private water wells and septic systems. Bolstered by a wealth of informative charts, tables, and illustrations, this book delivers:.
Current construction, maintenance, and repair methods. New International Private Sewage Disposal Code. Up-to-date standards from the American Water Works Association., Alth, Max and Charlet, Rev. Blackwell Duncan, $ 18.95; Tab Books 1992.
We have found this text very useful for conventional well and septic systems design and maintenance -DF. Quoting an Amazon description: Here's all the information you need to build a well or septic system yourself - and save a lot of time, money, and frustration.
Blackwell Duncan has thoroughly revised and updated this second edition of Wells and Septic Systems to conform to current codes and requirements. He also has expanded this national bestseller to include new material on well and septic installation, water storage and distribution, water treatment, ecological considerations, and septic systems for problem building sites. The NSFC Products List has an excellent list of design manuals/modules or by telephone 800-624-8301. Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair. Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the. Also see our. 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2.
Tel: (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 Email:. The firm provides professional & &. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The Home Reference Book & illustrations from The Illustrated Home. Carson Dunlop Associates' provides extensive home inspection education and report writing material.
![Systems Systems](http://www.shopkw.ca/microsite/photogallery/10047577.jpg)
illustrates construction details and building components, a reference for owners & inspectors. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Illustrated Home purchased as a single order Enter INSPECTAILL in the order payment page 'Promo/Redemption' space.
to manufacturer's model and serial number information for heating and cooling equipment, useful for determining the age of heating boilers, furnaces, water heaters is provided by Toronto - Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. A 5% discount on any number of copies of the Technical Reference Guide purchased as a single order. Just enter INSPECTATRG in the order payment page 'Promo/Redemption' space., Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page 'Promo/Redemption' space.
InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author. Or choose the for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page 'Promo/Redemption' space. Building inspection education & report writing systems from.
protocol ASTM Standard E 2018-08 for Property Condition Assessments. including home study & live classes at eleven colleges & universities. ASHI@Home Training 10-course program. Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. A 5% discount on these courses: Enter INSPECTAHITP in the order payment page 'Promo/Redemption' space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author. manages business operations,scheduling, & inspection report writing using Carson Dunlop's knowledge base & color images.
The Horizon system runs on always-available cloud-based software for office computers, laptops, tablets, iPad, Android, & other smartphones Publisher InspectApedia.com - Daniel Friedman.