Everyday Series 48,000 Grain High Efficiency Water Softener

Our Tier1 Everyday Series Water Softener

Grains: 48,000
Mineral Tank Dimensions: 10" x 54" (without control valve)
Mineral Tank Dimensions: 10" x 59" (with control valve)
Brine Tank Dimensions: 13.5" x 32"
Cubic Feet of Resin in the Mineral Tank: 1.5 cubic feet of Cation Resin 8%
Control Valve: Ceramic disk valve with automatic bypassing during regeneration.

Calculating Capacity with Grains of Hardness

When a water softener is referring to 'grains' it's talking about how many grains of hardness it can process before regenerating. Grains of hardness processed depends on how large your household is, as well as how hard your water actually is.

With water that has 20 grains per gallon of hardness, you'll need to divide the total grain capacity of the softener by 20 to get the total gallons of water the softener has the capacity to treat. Using a 48,000 grain softener as an example you get the equation (48,000 / 20 = 2,400), so the 48,000 grain softener can soften 2,400 gallons of water at max capacity. However, most water softeners are programmed to do their regeneration at night so they need to be programmed with some capacity in reserve to continue softening water until the next regeneration time.

The reserve capacity is how much extra capacity is left in the softener after the softener hits 0 gallons remaining on the meter. Reserve capacity can be calculated as a percentage of the total capacity of the softener or by the maximum daily use of the softener.

To calculate a 20% reserve capacity simply subtract 20% of the 2,400 capacity for your setting. (2,400 x 0.20 = 480) (2400 - 480 = 1920). A 48,000 grain softener has a capacity of 1920 gallons with a 20% reserve if the water has 20 GPG of hardness.

To calculate the reserve by maximum daily use we estimate that on average an individual will use 75 gallons of water in a day. So for a 4 person household we would multiply 75 by 4 and subtract from the 2,400 gallon capacity at 20 grains of hardness. (4 x 75 = 300) (2,400 - 300 = 2,100).

We recommend slightly overestimating reserve capacity because a reserve capacity that is too high will only make the softener a little less salt efficient. However a reserve capacity that is too low will cause hardness breakthroughs between regenerations.

How Does a Water Softener Work?

A traditional salt-based water softener system consists of a mineral tank with a control valve and a brine tank. It is typically installed in a plumbing system at the point that water enters a home.

Using a process called "ion exchange", the softener trades the hard water minerals for sodium.

The mineral tank is filled with small polystyrene beads, also known as resin. The beads carry a negative ionic charge. The primary minerals in hard water, calcium and magnesium, both carry positive charges. These minerals cling to the negatively charged beads as the hard water passes through the mineral tank.

The brine tank uses common salt (sodium) to create a brine solution. Sodium ions also have positive charges, but not as strong a charge as either calcium or magnesium.

When the brine solution is flushed through the system tank it comes into contact with the polystyrene beads, now saturated with calcium and magnesium. Once the beads are saturated, the unit enters a 3-phase regenerating cycle.

First, a "backwash" phase reverses water flow to flush dirt out of the tank. Second, a "recharge" phase carries the concentrated sodium-rich salt solution from the brine tank through the mineral tank. The sodium collects on the beads, replacing the calcium and magnesium, which are flushed down the drain. Lastly, the mineral tank is flushed or "regenerated", eliminating excess brine and the brine tank is refilled.