When you’re looking into purchasing or maintaining your industrial water system, you may want to know exactly how much salt does an industrial softener use? It’s important to know that! The amount of salt used in an industrial water softener system is a vital factor in both the water’s hardness and quality. In addition, the amount of product needed to achieve the desired water quality and hardness directly impacts your process and the bottom line. Finding solutions to lower your salt usage can lead to substantial savings in the long run. This makes the salt usage for your industrial water softener system a vital factor when you rely on quality water in your processes.
On Average, How Much Salt Does an Industrial Softener Use?
First, let’s take a look at the amount of salt that many large commercial and industrial water softeners use. The most common ratio of salt to resin that we have found is 15 lbs./ft.³ of resin. This results in higher quality water but is not the most efficient. Some facilities may choose to lower the salt usage to only 6 lbs./ft.³ resin to save costs and where higher quality water is less important. When our technician visits your facility, we will often perform a “Brine Study” on your facility’s water to determine what level your system is operating at. Using an instrument called a salometer, we will take measurements of the brine concentration at the water softener’s drain during the brine cycle. If there isn’t enough salt getting into the water, your CWS technician will make adjustments to increase the brine concentration and provide effective softening. If there is too much salt being used, however, it is a good indication that the softener’s resin requires replacement.
What Can I Do to Get the Best Results From My Industrial Water Softener?
Beyond salt consumption, there are other steps you can take that can help in preventing most softener failure issues. With commercial and industrial water softeners being used for a variety of applications from general water conditioning to industrial ingredient water, the upkeep of industrial and commercial softeners has become one of the most important tasks in many facilities. How can you get the best results? Most facilities will test their softener system either once a shift or daily. While this is a great way to determine if your softener system is working or has failed it does not do so well in preventing problems. The solution? Preventative maintenance!
Common Water Softener Preventative Maintenance Tasks Include:
- Valve Wear & Tear – Pulling internal parts to verify wear and tear and replace if necessary
- Brine Study – Performing a brine study can determine if the softener is running efficiently
- Solenoid Replacement or Rebuild – External solenoids should be rebuilt
- Clean Pilot Screens – If your controller system is running hydraulically, cleaning the screens can help.
- Lubricate – Lubricating Fleck softener piston(s) & Aquamatic valve shaft(s)
- Visual Inspections – Visual inspections of valve pistons can verify leaking points
- Resin Testing- Having your resin tested can help determine the life, condition, and identify foulants.
- Backwash Flow Controllers – Checking and cleaning backwash flow controllers can help with making sure you have enough flow for backwash and no restrictions for brine.
- Resin Level – Checking the resin level can help determine if you have enough resin in the softener. You will lose some resin over time.
- Pressure Gauges – Knowing what your pressure drop is across the softener can help determine if there are other additional problems occurring.
- Compound Gauge – Installing a compound pressure gauge (one that shows both pressure and vacuum) is an addition to help with verifying proper operation.
- Cleaning Brine Tank – Taking the time to clean the brine tank annually can help with proper brine injection. During this time, you can inspect and clean the brine valve. Sometimes salt sludge and dirt can clog the brine valve, causing brine issues.
Learn more about our preventative maintenance program HERE and in the video below and contact us today to schedule your initial appointment! We’d be happy to work with you when you’re wondering how much salt does an industrial softener use?
28 Years Of Water Treatment Equipment Experience. I have been blessed with the opportunity to learn from the ground up. Starting in the water treatment field as a service technician. Servicing all major brands of water treatment equipment. Give Us A Call (855) 787-4200 or Email info@complete-water.com