Water Softener & Filter Selection Guide

Time controlled water softeners/filters.

A 7 day 24 hour timer attached to the water control valve controls a time-controlled water softener. The time controlled water softener regenerates to what you have programmed the regeneration times to. This can me a minimum of once per week and a maximum of once per day. The usual time for regenerating a time controlled water softener/filter is 3pm when the water usage is at it’s lowest. The time of regeneration on a duplex time controlled softener is not as important as on a simplex model as the water to service is not interrupted.
The voltage of the timer is usually 12v and new timer-controlled softeners are supplied with a 240v to 24v transformer. /particulate removal capacity, between regenerations, will vary with units. Softeners/filters with small capacities must regenerate more often. Your daily softening/filtering need depends on the amount of water used daily in your household and the hardness/fouling levels of your water. To determine your daily hardness removal need, multiply daily household water use (measured in gallons) by the hardness of the water (measured in grains per gallon).

Example: 400 gallons used per day X 15 grains per gallon hardness = 6,000 grains of hardness must be removed daily.

Meter controlled water softeners/filters

Meter controlled softeners and water filters work by having a water meter or turbine on the outlet side of the softener or filter control valve. The meter or turbine sends a pulse to the counter within the control valve and when a preset value is reached the softener or filter will go into a regeneration cycle.
Most duplex water softeners and filters will be meter controlled as they gain the maximum capacity from the resin or filter media and makes the system more efficient. Unlike the time controlled units the resin or filter mediawill only regenerate once they are exhausted. You cannot preset a time for regeneration as you can for time controlled systems so meter controlled systems are rarely used in domestic situations.

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Simplex water softeners and water filters.

A simplex water softener/filter consists of one vessel containing ion exchange resin or filtration media retrospectively,once the ion exchange resins/media are exhausted. the water softener/filter will go into the regeneration sequence. During the regeneration sequence which takes around 2 hours there will be no water passed through the softener or filter to service.If the water softener/water filter is time controlled it is possible to set the regeneration time to 3am when there is usually no requirement for water but if the water softener/filter is a water meter controlled unit it is more difficult to gauge at what time the softener/filter will regenerating. If a continuous supply of softened or filtered water is required it is usual to install a duplex water softener/water filter.

Duplex water softeners and duplex water filters.

A duplex water softener/filter consists of two vessels containing ion exchange resin, Once the first column of resin has exhausted and goes into regeneration the second column goes into service. This maintains soft/filtered water to service at all times. Duplex water softeners and water filters are usually water meter controlled but in some cases can be time clock controlled.

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Valve Selection

Siata control range or Fleck control range?
How to choose which valve suits your application.

In our opinion both valves perform very reliably and set the industry standard for water treatment control valves.The biggest factor in choosing between each of them is personal preference.
However there are small differences in the construction materials and slight differences in flow characteristics.
Below we have the main elements of valve selection and once you have specified which valve you prefer you can check the characteristics of the unselected option at the end of the selection guide.

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