Hot Tip #23 – Salt Usage

Are you using too much salt when you regenerate your softeners?

Most laundries are.

A simple check: Salt usage should be between:     

3.1 to 3.6 grains of salt used per grains of hardness removed.   

I round it off to between 3 & 4 grains per grain.

Another way to state that is, that one pound of salt usage should remove between:

1,950 grains of hardness, when regenerating at 15 Lbs of salt per Cu.Ft. of resin and

2,450 grains of hardness, when regenerating at 12 Lbs of salt per Cu.Ft. of resin.

A gallon of brine will have:

Percent saturation        pounds of salt per gallon of brine

95%                    = 2.491

96%                     = 2.522

97%                    = 2.552

98%                    = 2.570

99%                    = 2.616

100%                  = 2.647

Therefore, if you regenerating at 12 pounds of salt per cubic foot of resin and have

25 cubic feet of resin, your brine usage should be

(25 Cu.ft.*12 lbs./cu.ft.) = 300 pounds of salt

(300 Lbs / 2.491 lbs/gallon) = 120.4 gallons of 95% saturated brine needed.

Brine usage should be measured at every regeneration!

If your city water hardness is 10 grains, then you should be regenerating every:

(27,000 grains/cu.ft. at (12 Lbs) * 25 cu.ft / 10 grains/gallon) = 67,500 gallons = 2,450 grains per pound

(29,200 grains/cu.ft. at (15 Lbs) * 25 cu.ft / 10 grains/gallon) = 73,000 gallons = 1,946 grains per pound

Brine usage should be measured at every regeneration!                                          

Did I already state that brine usage should be measured at every regeneration?   It is the best methodology to confirm that regeneration was performed correctly.  Which salt dosage should you regenerate at? That’s a future Hot Tip!