A water softener works by passing incoming hard water through a sealed container (called a resin vessel) which contains thousands of little ion exchange resin beads. These beads attract and retain ‘hardness’ in the water i.e. scale and scum meaning it does not enter the water supply within the building.
When the beads become saturated with hardness they need cleaning and regenerating for continued use. This cleaning process is carried out automatically within the water softener by rinsing the beads with a weak solution of brine (salt and water). The waste brine and hardness is then automatically flushed away.
To keep your Monarch water softener functioning at its best all you have to do is ensure the softener is kept full of salt. The Ultimate (electric) models use tablet salt, whereas the Plumbsoft (non-electric) models use either tablets or blocks, both of which are available from your nearest plumbers’ merchants. It is important to note that salt does not soften the water. The resin cleans/softens the water and when required the salt cleans the resin. During the cleaning of the resin, the waste salt, scale and scum is discharged automatically down the drain.
At no time does the salt enter the water supply.
