The average commercial water softener generally lasts 10 to 15 years. While a water softener is an appliance you don’t have to give a lot of thought to, it will need proper maintenance and the occasional repair.
Most Common Parts to Replace
The most common part by far that needs replacing on a water softener is the brine valve. The brine valve is the valve that brings water into and out of the brine tank. The brine tank is where the salt is stored and mixed with water to form a brine solution. The brine water gives the resin a sodium charge. This allows the exchange process in which the sodium ions are released into the water and exchanged for the hardness ions (calcium, magnesium, iron, etc.). Once all the sodium ions are gone from the resin beads, the softener needs to regenerate to get the sodium charge back to be able to soften the water again.
Why are brine valves the most common repair?
Brine valves are made of brass and salt is corrosive to brass. Additionally, more than 98 percent of U.S. water supply systems disinfect drinking water using chlorine. Chlorine can eat away at the rubber seals that prevent water flow through the brine piston when the brine valve is not being used. Manufacturers tried to make brine valves out of plastic to combat this issue but found that brass valves still performed better.
Less common repairs include a piston going bad. A piston is used to move liquids, and a piston in a water softener helps control water flowing into and out of the tanks. Sometimes these can break because a foreign object, such as a rock, gets into your water supply and breaks the piston as it enters the tank with the water to be softened.
Another rare, but possible repair that may be needed is a broken distributor. The distributor keeps the resin beads in the resin tank from flowing into the waterline. Causes of a fractured distributor include:
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Too much water pressure
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Not regenerating your system frequently enough
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Highly chlorinated water that breaks down resins into small fragments
- One option many commercial businesses choose is to rent a commercial water softener system rather than purchase it. A commercial water softener lease from Advantage Water Conditioning includes all parts, service, and labor.
Rest assured, Advantage Water Conditioning can help you diagnose and fix almost any issue that comes up with your water softener, even if you didn’t purchase or lease your equipment through us. Call us today for any of your maintenance or repair needs!
