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Water softeners do so much to improve the quality of your home’s potable water supply, including eliminating harmful contaminants and from your well pump neutralizing unpleasant sulfur odors.
If you have a salt-based water softener, maintaining proper salt amounts is crucial to keep your system working as it should. If you find it running low on salt, you may wonder which salt refill type is best – salt crystals or salt pellets. At Perry’s Pump Repair, we have proudly served our North Central Florida customers’ water service needs for over 40 years. Read on to learn which softener salt we recommend and why.
A water softener system uses sodium ion resin beads that replace the hardness in water with salt ions. Water has a salt absorption maximum, meaning you can only dissolve so much salt per gallon of water. Your water softener will backflush the beds to put in sodium ions from the tank while removing magnesium and calcium.
If your salt seems to last longer, it is likely due to your system getting insufficient amounts of salt or impurities not breaking down properly and leaving deposits behind. These deposits build, and flushing is required to remove them before they can corrode your softener’s internal components and cause your softener to stop working correctly.
The type of salt refill you choose also affects how often your water softener system requires maintenance and the likelihood of bridging, which happens when the salt sticks together to form a hard crust that looks like a bridge and keeps the salt from reaching the tank’s water. Salt with a higher impurity percentage is more susceptible to bridging in the brine tank than its purer counterparts. And, unfortunately, this issue occurs far under the visible top salt layer and usually goes unnoticed until the water quality is affected. Once bridging starts, it has to be manually broken up for the salt to flow again as intended. One way to do this is to pour hot water over the bridging until it can be removed.
Salt pellets are pure sodium chloride formed from refined crystals. Pellets easily dissolve in water without clogging, bridging, or leaving residue behind. This allows your water softener system to go longer without needing maintenance. This type is also the most expensive because of its added purifying processing.
Salt crystals are made from salt, brine, and water evaporated by the wind to leave 99.6% sodium chloride. Crystals typically have additives and are best in homes with a 2-part system in place for water softening. For homes with normal to high water usage, crystals are somewhat more prone to bridging but are a more affordable option.
Our team’s 40+ years of experience has given us the expertise to use crystals for a higher purity rate. When additives are required, we use a drip feeder that includes a concentrated additive for resin cleaning and maintaining pH balance.
Reliable hard water treatment is essential for keeping your home’s supply usable and drinkable. If your water softener system is running low on salt or not performing as expected, contact the expert team at Perry’s Pump Repair. We can assess your system to help you determine what water softener salt best suits your needs and ensure your water stays pure and clean as it should be for you and your family.
