
An Ultimate HE water softener works by passing incoming hard water through a single high capacity sealed container (called aresin vessel) which contains tens of thousands of little ion exchange resin beads. These beads attract and retain ‘hardness’ in the water i.e. scale and scum, ensuring 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 used brine and hardness is then automatically flushed away. During the cleaning process, the softener switches to automatic bypass to ensure a continuous supply of water.
To keep your HE water softener functioning at its best, all you have to do is ensure the softener is kept full of salt. The Ultimate HE (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 brine cleans the resin. During the cleaning of the resin, the brine, scale and scum are discharged automatically down the drain.
At no time does the brine enter the water supply. The amount of salt used to create the brine in a HE softener is always linked to how much soft water has been used since the previous regeneration. This is called Opti-Brining and is unique to Monarch. It is the most accurate form of salt use in any single cylinder softener available.
The Monarch Solo & Ultra are duplex standby softeners meaning that one cylinder is always working whilst the other is on standby. This guarantees soft water every minute of every day. Please do not confuse these models with duplex parallel non-electric models that have a tendency to run into hard water whilst one cylinder regenerates, exactly at the moment you need soft water!