To answer this question briefly, water softener regeneration depends on water usage, water hardness and the unit’s capacity. It can range anywhere from as low as 3 days to once a week or once every few months depending on your needs. For more information, continue reading.
It is important to know how often a water softener regenerates. If you don’t know, you may be wasting money and time on unnecessary regeneration cycles. In this post we will explore the regeneration process, water softener regeneration frequency, length of water softener regeneration, water usage for regeneration, etc.
Table of Contents
What is water softener regeneration?
A water softener regeneration is the process of removing accumulated hard water minerals from a water softener’s resin tank. Regeneration takes place after the brine tank has been emptied or when the hardness level in softened water exceeds acceptable levels. Once this occurs, an automatic recharging process begins which flushes out the mineral-laden solution and replaces it with brine.
How often should you regenerate your water softener?
It depends on your usage and preferences. Various factors affect how often you should regenerate your water softener such as size of family, household water usage, water hardness and more.
The following list will give you an idea of the frequency needed for different family sizes:
- Households of one or two people can regenerate as infrequently as once every 60-90 days.
- Households with three to four people should regenerate at least once per month.
- More than five people, regenerate every two to three weeks.
Households with more than five people typically need to regenerate more frequently than those with one to two people. If you live in an area of above-average water hardness, you will need to regenerate even more frequently.
You can learn how often to regenerate your water softener by checking the salt level indicator on most units (if not all). Please note that some units do not have this feature and must be regenerated manually.
If the unit is fully automatic, then automatic regeneration may be set to happen once a month, every 2 weeks, every 3 days etc., depending on your water usage and the unit’s capacity.
How can you prepare for water softener regeneration?
To ensure that your family is not affected with low water pressure and poor quality of water during the process, you should fill up some jugs or containers with clean drinking water before setting up the regeneration. It’s also better to know where your home’s main shut off valve is located so you can turn off the water in case of emergencies.
How long does a water softener take to regenerate?
Regeneration process can last up to 3 hours or more depending on how big is your tank. For example, you would need more time if you have a 2-stage water softener than if you have a 1-stage water softener.
It can also take longer if you use more water. The regeneration process requires lots of water to remove the hard minerals that the water softener traps. If you use more water, there will be more minerals to remove, which will require more time for regeneration.
A standard 1-tank 75,000 grain (salt capacity) water softener can last around 3 hours when regenerating.
If you live in an area with hard water, the regeneration cycle time may be longer. Typically, areas that have hard water need to regenerate every week or two. In areas that have soft water, weekly regeneration is not as necessary.
How much water is used when a water softener regenerates?
The amount of water used depends on the size and model of your water softener. Generally, it is about 20 to 40 gallons of water per regeneration cycle. If your unit uses more gallons per regeneration than this, you might need to either refill the brine tank or replace the resin tank with a larger one.
Let us explain with an example: If your family consists of 3 people, then you would need to refill the brine tank if it uses more than (20 x 3 = 60) gallons per regeneration. If you used 32 gallons for your current unit, then you should replace the resin tank if it has less than (32/20 = 1.6) cubic feet of resin.
It is also important to note that some water softener models use more or less water for regeneration depending on the hardness of the incoming water supply. For example, if you have hard water, then your unit will likely use 40 gallons per cycle instead of 20. Always check your user manual for details about how much water is used for each cycle.
Conclusion
A water softener is a vital appliance for any home with hard or mineral-rich water. However, it can be difficult to know when your water softener will need regenerating and how often you should regenerate it.
In this post we’ve covered the basics of regeneration: what happens during the process, how much water is used in regeneration and more. We hope this post was helpful in increasing your knowledge of water softener regeneration.