how to clean water softener resin

how to clean water softener resin?Okay, so my water softener was acting up – less soft water, more hard water problems. Figured it was time to give the resin a good cleaning. I’m no expert, but I like to get my hands dirty and fix things myself. Here’s how I tackled it, step-by-step.

Gathering My Stuff

First things first, I needed to get everything together. I didn’t want to be running around mid-project looking for stuff. So, I made sure I had:

• A bucket: Just a regular, clean bucket.
• Some kind of cleaner: I’ve heard you can use bleach.
• Gloves: Didn’t want to mess up my hands.
• Safety glasses: Gotta protect the eyes!
• A screwdriver: To take some stuff apart.

Getting Started

I started by shutting off the water supply to the softener. This is important! No one wants a surprise shower. Then, I put the softener into bypass mode. My softener has a bypass valve, yours might too. It just stops the water from going through the softener while you’re working on it.

The Dirty Work

Next, I disconnected the brine tank (that’s the smaller tank next to the main one). It was pretty easy, just a few tubes and connections. I carefully emptied out any leftover salt and water from the brine tank into my bucket. It was kind of gross, but hey, that’s part of the job.

I located the control valve on top of my water softener resin * then,I took out the screws on the control valve to remove the valve.

how to clean water softener resin

Cleaning the Resin

After that, I add water and some cleaner into the resin tank.Some guys perfer to use bleach.

I let it soak for about an hour. I figured this would give the cleaner time to really work its magic on any buildup in the resin.

Putting It All Back Together

After the soak, put back the control valve.I had to reverse the whole process.

Finally,I turn on the water and set to the “backwash” to cleaning it again.

I let it run through a full regeneration cycle. My softener does this automatically, which is pretty handy. It just flushes everything out and gets the resin ready to go again.

The Result

And that’s it! After the regeneration, I checked the water, and it felt noticeably softer. Success! It wasn’t the most glamorous job, but my water softener is working much better now, and I saved myself a service call. Plus, I learned something new, which is always a win.