How to Clean Water Softener Resin

Water softener resin needs to be regenerated or cleaned in order to maintain its efficiency. To clean it, follow the simple steps below.

Step 1 – Choosing a Resin Cleaner

The water softener resin attracts calcium, magnesium, iron and other trace minerals that make the water “hard.” To remove these minerals from the beads of resin, commercial resin cleaners should be added to the water softener system to replace the minerals with sodium ions. When choosing a resin cleaner, make sure it is designed specifically to remove mineral build-up. Some resin cleaners target one particular element – iron for example. If the resin beads have too much iron content, then purchase a cleaner designed for this particular element.

Step 2 – Feeding the Resin Cleaner to the System

Pour the recommended amount of resin cleaner into the brine tank of the water softener system. If there is no brine tank, feed the cleaner into the salt tank while the salt content is low. Adding this product to the tank will produce sodium ions that will help clean the resin beads.

Step 3 – Set the System to Regeneration Mode

On the control valve, locate the regeneration control knob and turn it counterclockwise using a flathead screwdriver. This will set the device to regeneration mode and cause the system to manually regenerate or recharge the resin bed. While the system is in this mode, the water flow is reversed to remove any debris or dirt in the system. A solution rich in sodium ions is then released into the mineral tank. The sodium ions will then be attracted to the resin beads, thus replacing any other minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, etc).

At the final phase of the regeneration process, the system flushes the mineral tank to remove the minerals that have been removed from the beads. While the water softener system undergoes an automatic regeneration cycle frequently, the minerals attached to the beads will not easily get flushed unless a good resin cleaner is added to the brine tank.

Step 4 – Repeat the Regeneration Process

Replenish the brine tank with the recommended amount of resin cleaner and re-run the manual regeneration process to purge out more of the unwanted minerals. If the resin bed is heavily filled with iron or calcium, run the process for a third time.

Step 5 – Return to Normal Settings

Access the regeneration control knob on the control panel and rotate it clockwise to return the system to its normal setting. Close the control panel and find the nearest faucet connected to the water softener system. Run the tap for about ten minutes to completely flush out the cleaner from the system. 

Tips:

The cleaning process has to be done depending on how much the water is being used. On a hot summer day where water needs to be used more frequently, the regeneration process should be done at least once a week. In other months, once a month is sufficient.