Function

• Water softeners eliminate the minerals magnesium, manganese and calcium, common substances in groundwater that can leave deposits in pipes and water heaters. Calcium and magnesium also react with soap to form scaly lime residue.
  
  

Identification

• A typical water softener has a conditioning tank containing synthetic resin beads that are charged with rock salt. This salt attracts and holds the hard minerals in a chemical ion exchange.
  
  

Recharging

• Eventually, the minerals must be flushed away when the beads are full, usually every week or so. Water softeners typically perform this flush on a timer method.
  
  

Soft Water Consideration

• Soft water tends to leach metals from pipes because it is more acidic and corrosive, so many people choose not to drink soft water from the faucet.
  
  

Distillation

• A distiller also acts as a water softener by eliminating minerals from water, but it is cost-prohibitive to use as a household water-softening method. People purchase distilled water from stores to use in steam irons and radiators because hard minerals can damage them.