A common question that a lot of our K-water customers ask is “Do I need to clean my Kinetico water softener?”
The short answer is no, but the long answer is this: while you may not need to clean your water softener, it is recommended that you do sanitize it – and trust us there’s a huge difference!
“Cleaning” a water softener isn’t really a common practice; however, there is always the possibility that unwanted substances could have entered your water supply. When your incoming water supply has or could have been compromised, this means the contaminated water could potentially affect your appliances that use water – this includes your water softener.
If you’re afraid that your water supply has brought in unwanted substances to your Kinetico Water Softener when in doubt, it’s a good rule to sanitize your system. We understand sanitizing a Kinetico system can be a bit overwhelming, and you may not know where to start, but don’t worry we’re with you every step of the way!
How to sanitize your water softener:
1. Regenerate both tanks of the unit with salt. Use a clean grade of salt appropriate for use with water treatment equipment. Do NOT use rock salt or pool salt. This couldn’t potentially damage your system.
2. Mix 1 ounce of household bleach in 4 gallons of clean, soft H2O. More may be required for large units.
3. Disconnect the brine line and put a tube into the container holding the bleach mixture from the step above. Still with us?
4. Put the unit into a brine draw for the first tank. On the top of your unit, you will use a screwdriver to advance the small tab below to “brine draw.”
5. Draw the mixture into the drain line. This should take about 2/5ths of the mixed solution.
6. Switch quickly to the other tank and repeat the procedure – you got this!
7. Advance the control disc to the service position and allow the unit to stand for 30-60 minutes.
8. Reconnect the brine line to the brine tank, that’s the container holding the salt, and backwash each tank of the softener TWO times.
If you need step-by-step instructions on how to backwash your tanks, please watch our video “Manual Kinetico Regeneration Instructions.”
If you have any further questions about how to clean your water softener or any other questions about our Kinetico Systems, please contact your nearest K-water. Remember, we are here to fix your water problems!
