Water Softener - Kinetico 2020c

ck7ah

Hi

The previous owner left this water softener as we have hard water in our area. I want to use it as he also left salt blocks.  However I have no clue on what to do.
I can see the location of where the blocks should go but there is water in there, should it be there and also do I need to turn the taps on as per the picture.  They are currently facing in a vertical direction.
Any help will be appreciated.

Belenus

Yes, water should be there. It dissolves the salt to create a brine to refresh the softening resin.

Put two salt blocks vertically in the front section.

There should be three valves (taps as you call them).

The valves control 1) mains hard water into the softener, 2) softened water out and 3) a bypass valve for isolating the softener for servicing, replacement etc.

Normally the first two valves should be open, usually parallel to the pipe, and the bypass valve should be closed, 90 degrees to the pipe.

For servicing etc you close the first two valves and open the third allowing hard water directly into the house bypassing the softener.

If you don't have that third bypass valve then you can still use the softener. It is only there to allow hard water into the house if the softener has to be isolated for service etc.

Make sure that the drainage pipe and the overflow pipe are correctly in place.

Google for a manual and read it.

They are very simple devices.

Do you have a separate drinking water tap at the kitchen sink that is supplied with unsoftened water?  If not consider getting one as the higher sodium content of softened water isn't recommended for some people who are sodium intolerant or have certain medical conditions. It is especially not recommended for making  milk formula for babies.

Slinky

Bypass is also useful if you need to water your garden and don't want to waste lots of salt.

ck7ah

Belenus said:

Yes, water should be there. It dissolves the salt to create a brine to refresh the softening resin.

Put two salt blocks vertically in the front section.

There should be three valves (taps as you call them).

The valves control 1) mains hard water into the softener, 2) softened water out and 3) a bypass valve for isolating the softener for servicing, replacement etc.

Normally the first two valves should be open, usually parallel to the pipe, and the bypass valve should be closed, 90 degrees to the pipe.

For servicing etc you close the first two valves and open the third allowing hard water directly into the house bypassing the softener.

If you don't have that third bypass valve then you can still use the softener. It is only there to allow hard water into the house if the softener has to be isolated for service etc.

Make sure that the drainage pipe and the overflow pipe are correctly in place.

Google for a manual and read it.

They are very simple devices.

Do you have a separate drinking water tap at the kitchen sink that is supplied with unsoftened water?  If not consider getting one as the higher sodium content of softened water isn't recommended for some people who are sodium intolerant or have certain medical conditions. It is especially not recommended for making  milk formula for babies.

Thank you. I will try this tomorrow.

This is what the valves look like at presrnt6, are they correct or do they need to be turned.
I have a water filter in the kitchen too as per the picture.

Grumpy_chap

ck7ah said:

This is what the valves look like at presrnt6, are they correct or do they need to be turned.

Those valves look correct.  Bypass red across the pipe is closed.  In and out blue along the pipe is open.

ck7ah

I have put the salt blocks in, apart from seeing them dissolve, is there any other way to see if its working etc?  

KeithP

ck7ah said:

I have put the salt blocks in, apart from seeing them dissolve, is there any other way to see if its working etc?  

Yes, the water from the taps should be noticeably softer.

You can get various hardness testers for around £5. Try Amazon. 

Belenus

ck7ah said:

I have put the salt blocks in, apart from seeing them dissolve, is there any other way to see if its working etc?  

As Keith writes, you need a water hardness tester.

You can try comparing how soapy the water from the softener gets compared to water from the unsoftened drinking water tap with the same small amount of washing up liquid. The softened water should get noticeably more frothy and sudsy.

You can check to see if it is working mechanically by doing the following.

Remove the top cover and insert a Philipps/Pozidrive screwdriver into the centre of the round mechanism at the top above the twin tanks.

Press the screwdriver firmly downwards (that is important) and turn it very gently and slowly clockwise (as viewed from above) until you hear the mechanism start to work. That should initiate a refresh cycle that takes about 11 minutes. You should be able to hear water flowing within the softener during that time.

You should be able to see movement in the mechanism as you turn the screwdriver clockwise. If there is no  movement then you haven't pressed the screwdriver down enough.

nofoollikeold

1. If you have a cold water storage cistern in the loft and a hot water cylinder in an airing cupboard, then you will have to use all the water in the CWSC before noticing much softening of the cold water, and all the water in the CWSC and all the water in the HWC before noticing much softening of the hot.
2. If you have a combi boiler, or a system / heat only boiler with an unvented HWC you should notice softening of the cold water fairly quickly, but the hot will still take a while.
3. The softener works on the water coming into the property.  This may be softened and sent to a storage cistern, where it has to displace (at least partly) the already stored hard water before any difference is noticed.

Slinky

When we had ours installed the installer said it would take about a week before we noticed the difference, and that was about right. It was most noticeable in the shower.

ck7ah

Thanks all. I have put in the salt and will monitor.