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Glossary


ALL DEPARTMENTS ...


OUR BRANDS ...


2 Wem Moss
Bettisfield
Whitchurch
Shropshire
SY13 2LT

Glossary

A glossary of some of the terminology explained

A) How a water softener works

All ION exchange softeners have a resin bed that extracts calcium as the water passes through the softener before entering the house. They ensure that 100% softened water is supplied to the property. Huge savings can be made on protecting all household appliances, boilers and you will use 75% less deteregents and cleaners. No need to use additives such as Calgon, Dishwasher Salt etc etc. Energy efficiency will be improved and white goods and other appliances such as taps and showers will have less maintenance and replacement costs.

B) Regeneration

ALL ion exchange softeners have to clean themselves periodically as the resin bed becomes saturated with calcium deposits. It does this by making brine from the salt placed in the softeners brine tank and as this is flushed through the resin bed, the calcium breaks free and is flushed to a drain, normally a washing machine type trap or to an external gully

B1) Upward Flow regeneration

Softeners pass the brine through the resin bed during regeneration and vent the brine and broken down calcium to a waste or drain connection. Some machines advertise that they regenerate in reverse flow or counter flow or upward flow regeneration. However, such machines generally have higher salt usage and higher volumes of waste water because the regeneration cycle goes on for much longer.

C) Timed Controlled Softeners

A timed controlled softener plans the regeneration process at a set number of day intervals. These types of controlers are usually found on budget or entry level machines. These machines do not take into account changes in water consumption and therfore have to be set to generate more often in order to guarantee a constant supply of soft water. As a result these machines will have higher running costs in salt and water consumption than a metered softener. There are occasions when a timed softener is preferred, especially if it is supplying a low volume requirement such as a steam room, steam ovens or single appliances. If a metered unit was used, there would be too long a gap between regenerations, and the resin bed will start to create water channels, allowing hard water to break through. When this happens protection of the equipment will be reduced. A timed machine in these instances would ensure that the resin bed is aerated at reasonable intervals thus preventing break through.

D) Meter Controlled Softeners

Unlike timed controlled softeners, these machines monitor consumption of water and will allow a pre-determined volume of water to be used based on the water hardness between each regeneration. They are able to react to changing consumption levels and therfore have lower running costs because they are more efficient. Other features found on top of the range models further reduce overall running costs from basic metered machines.

E) Monospheric Resin

Most softeners, unless stated have a standard resin media which is normally irregular shaped beads. Mono resin has completely regular spherical beads. Softeners with Mono Resin offer the best performance. Mono resin allows passing water to make use of the entire resin bed thus extending the gap between each regeneration cycle. Mono resin is easier to clean and therefore requires less brine to complete the regeneration cycle. Therefore Mono Resin softeners offer the optimum performance and reduced running costs. The additional cost of these machines can be repaid in a relatively short period of time.

F) Proportional Brining

Some softeners claim to be proportional brining but in reality this is a "perceived" benefit of marketing, rather than real benefit. These water softeners still clean at the same rate on every regeneration whatever capacity is remaining. Machines that state proportional brining do an immediate clean because they have run out of capacity. This takes place immediately, during which hard water is fed into the system. With our Wrekin Range, there is a 24 hour buffer capacity so that the regeneration time is always delayed until 2am or any time set by the customer, but soft water is always maintained during the day when most demand takes place

G) Capacity

The capacity of a softener is governed by the quantity of resin in the resin chamber. The capacity is shown in litres, eg. A 10ltr softener is normally quite adequate for a normal domestic house. Some cheaper softeners will have smaller resin chambers in order to reduce the price but have higher running costs as these machines regenerate more often. For very large houses it may be necessary to consider a 15ltr machine or above. Sometimes specification state number of persons it will support, but this terminology is misleading. It refers to people days between regeneration calculated at 300 ppm of hardness. A person is deemed to use 165 ltrs of water per day

H) Fixing Kits

All machines require a fixing kit to enable easy connection to the incoming water supply. All our Wrekin Water Softeners have fixing Kit options included in the price.
We also sell fixing kits separately as well

Which fixing kit depends on your heating system

1) Vented system (You have a hot water tank with a header tank in the loft Normally a 15 mm rising main, choose Kit 1

2) Combination boiler:
For 15mm rising main choose Kit 2
For 22mm rising main choose Kit 3

3) A pressurised Hi-Flow system (Has a hot water cylinder but no header tank). These are sometimes referred to as Megaflow Systems. Normally a 22 mm rising main, choose Kit 3

I) Plumbing Out Kits

Ion Exchange water softeners need to have a drain connection to take away waste water during the regeneration process. The drain hose can be placed in a washing machine trap or connected to a 15 mm copper pipe which goes through an outside wall to an open gulley. When either of these options are not easily available, we sell a Plumbing Out Kit which can be clamped to a 32mm or 40mm waste pipe from the sink. The drain hose is then slid on the spiggot and held in place with a jubilee kit. The waste water then goes to the normal drain.


J) Hardness Levels

Hardness levels are normally measured in Parts Per Million, or ppm for short. In order to calibrate a water softener it is necessary to set the hardness level so that the machine can then control the amount of water consumed before each regeneration. We sell a very simple home chemical kit which can tell you your hardness ppm in minutes. Click the link for more details

K) Salt

Salt is supplied for water softeners in 3 basic types
  • Tablet
  • Granular

    The above products are supplied normally in 25KG bags. The machine chosen will specify which type is recommended. We strongly recommend that you use only salt designed specifically for water softeners. All our machines use tablet salt except block salt softeners

  • Block salt

    Only Block Salt softeners can use this product. It has the advantage that it is more convenient to handle than 25KG bags but is more expensive Kilo/Kilo. However, our block salt softener is non-electric and is an advantage if a suitable electrical point is not available. All other machines require an electrical supply

  • L) Scale Inhibitors - Electronic and Magnetic

    Scale inhibitors come in the form of Magnetic, Electrolytic, electronic and Phosphate dosing.

    Magenetic, Electroytic and electronic uses magnetism or radio frequencies to change the structure of scale particles in the water supply. This treament makes the calcium deposits remain potable and as a result calcium does not build up on heating elements. These units don't soften the water, the calcium just passes through the system. These systems are best positioned on pipes that lead directly to heating appliances. Water that is treated and then held in a loft storage tank may lose its polarity if stored for more than 17 hours. Therefore position on the supply from the tank and not to it, or both if the feed in also feeds washing machines, dishwashers etc.


    M) Scale Inhibtors - Polyphosphate Dosing

    Phosphate dosing systems slowly release a food grade polyphoshate into the water supply. This solution is attracted to calcium and prevents it from sticking to heated surfaces. One system can be installed to cover whole house or single appliance. The water remains safe and drinkable but it is recommended to take an untreated supply off for drinking water when unit is fitted to protect whole house.

    Saltless Water Conditioners

    In some cases these units are being described as salt less Water Softeners. However, the term Water Softener implies that the calcium hardness is extracted from the water supply, as is done with a conventional water softener but this is not the case. These are scale sequesters, changing the structure of the calcium so it cannot build in in your household systems. A polyphosphate dosing system does the same thing and is considerably cheaper to run.
    If customers install as a replacement for a conventional softener, expecting to get the same texture and feel of soft-water, lower detergent costs and no smears of calcium on fittings, then you may be disappointed. The complete media of these units will need to be change between 3 and 5 years and this makes them more expensive to run and they only work if you control the exact flow conditions for the unit installed

    Twin Tank Non Electric Machines

    The impression of a Twin Tank Non Electric is that they green and economical to run. However, this is not necessarily the case. most twin tanks have very small resin beds, 3.5Lts to 4ltrs so the amount of soft water produced by each cylinder before cleaning can be less that 300ltrs. With 2 people in the house, each cylinder will clean on a daily basis. The sum total of salt and waste water used would be significantly higher that the Wrekin ECO15 for example that will produce 2500 ltrs of soft water before regeneration

    However, in some cases, running cost may be overrun by convenience and there may be occasions where a twin tank might be the most appropriate machine.

    Please feel free to call us for advise
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    © Wrekin Water Filtration Ltd 2024, UK Company Registration Number: 11000488 - Trading Terms & Conditions - Website Terms & Conditions - Website Privacy Policy - Site by Linxdesign
    © Wrekin Water Filtration Ltd 2024, Reg: #11000488 - Trade T&Cs - Web T&Cs - Privacy - Site: Linxdesign