Please check the water softener at home or business and consider the following:
- Look to see how it is calibrated. Some softeners are preset at the factory at 30 grains, the highest hardness setting. Reset the hardness to 22 grains.
- Consider updating your old softener with a high efficiency demand based unit which offers a number of environmentally friendly benefits. These include lower water and energy use and decreased salt needs.
- Soften everything except the kitchen cold and outside faucets. Hard water tastes better and softened water is unnecessary for outside faucets.
- Check the timer. You may be able to increase the amount of time between regeneration cycles without affecting water quality. Experiment by increasing the interval by one day at a time and monitor the effect on dishwashing and laundry. If hard water is coming through at the end of the cycle, you will find you need to use more soap to obtain the desired amount of suds. When you determine the time frame when hardness is coming through, set your timer back one day.
By keeping your equipment in good operating condition and properly set, you can help the City meet the limits of our upcoming DNR permit, keep sewer rates low, and help maintain the quality of our lakes and rivers.