Best way to recharge the in-tank water softener

#1: Post by **sunnyu** » March 20th, 2006, 6:19 pm

What is the best way to recharge the intank, but removable, water softener?

#2: Post by HB » March 20th, 2006, 7:54 pm

another_jim wrote:This is the small softener sold along with the Silvia that fits on the intake hose end. The softeners sold with other machines look identical, so this may be a generic product. I was told to recharge mine weekly with a few tablespoons of pure salt in a highball glass. The test result is based on this procedure. This softener also does not completely eliminate hardness. In my case, it reduces hardness from 150 mg/l to about 50 mg/l. The performance is about equal to a new Brita jug filter. Weekly recharging keeps it at this level. At this level of softening, my water still generates scale, but at about half the rate of unsoftened water. The softening creates close to zero LI water at coffee brewing temperatures, albeit with higher alkalinity than hardness. The combination of a new Brita and hose end did reduce the water to a 20 mg/l nonscaling level.

#3: Post by **Dogshot** » March 20th, 2006, 10:15 pm

My Brewtus II came with this type of softener. After recharging the softener a few times, I noticed some of the resin innards had somehow made their way into the water reservoir and were sitting at the bottom of the container. Although I realize that the resin needs to pass through the top of the softening cartridge, so leakage out the bottom may not be a relevant issue, I decided against taking any chances with it gumming up the innards of my machine, so I removed it.

Does that sound prudent, or unreasonably paranoid?

Now I use RO that is re-mineralized with about 20% tap water. I plan to buy a tds meter that my local water guy sells for about $50.

But to answer your question, I can summarize from the Brewtus instruction manual. Remove your reservoir from the machine, and fill it with warm water and about 3 large spoonfulls of salt. Remove the softener from the machine intake tube, and attach the softener to a piece of tubing that you keep for this purpose. Place the softener in the reservoir full of salty water, and create a siphon by sucking out some of the water from the other end of the tube. Let this flow into the sink until the reservoir is empty. This recharges the softener. Clean your reservoir, reattach your softener to the machine intake tube, and you are set.

Mark

#4: Post by **cannonfodder** » March 20th, 2006, 11:13 pm

Make sure you DO NOT use table salt, it contains anti clumping agents and iodine (heaven forbid we all get gout from iodine deficiency). Use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, it is straight sodium chloride, no nasty additives. It is my personal choice for cooking. I have an in inline filter/softener on the water supply plumbed into my machine. I used my in tank softener for about a month.

March 21st, 2006, 11:46 pm

If you get gout from iodine deficiency, I promise to help get your story into a medical journal

Iodine was originally added to table salt for the purpose of preventing THYROID GOITER, which occurs in people who live in areas where iodine is not present in the normal diet and water intake. The places I'm aware of like this are in the midwest, in certain parts of Minnesota, for instance. Iodine is needed by the thyroid in order to produce thyroid hormone, and without iodine the thyroid gland goes into overdrive and goiters are the result.

Non-iodized table salt can be purchased in most areas; both iodized and non-iodized are sold in my area.

In any event, do use kosher or rock salt for recharging in tank softeners, as these are the types of salt recommended by the machine mfrs.

ken

#6: Post by **cannonfodder** » March 21st, 2006, 11:54 pm

Gout, Goiter, I knew it was a G

. I am not a doctor, but I have seen one before.

March 22nd, 2006, 1:05 am

Ken Fox wrote:If you get gout from iodine deficiency, I promise to help get your story into a medical journal

Iodine was originally added to table salt for the purpose of preventing THYROID GOITER, which occurs in people who live in areas where iodine is not present in the normal diet and water intake. The places I'm aware of like this are in the midwest, in certain parts of Minnesota, for instance. Iodine is needed by the thyroid in order to produce thyroid hormone, and without iodine the thyroid gland goes into overdrive and goiters are the result.

Non-iodized table salt can be purchased in most areas; both iodized and non-iodized are sold in my area.

In any event, do use kosher or rock salt for recharging in tank softeners, as these are the types of salt recommended by the machine mfrs.

ken

It's rumoured that iodonized salt is vital in the Minnesota gene pool

#8: Post by **Wescott** » March 22nd, 2006, 1:34 pm

Somewhere, on some forum, someone suggested using dishwasher detergent instead of Urnex for soaking portafilters. It works well for me, and it's one more special supply that I don't need to hunt down.

I have an idea that dishwasher water conditioning salt ought to work for recharging in-tank resin water softeners because I suspect it's doing a similar job in the dishwasher.

Can anyone confirm or squelch this notion?

March 22nd, 2006, 2:22 pm

Dishwasher detergent has some of the best abilities to dissolve baked on oils.

One observation about dishwasher salt conditioner. Manufacturers of these chemicals can safely bank on the fact that no one will ever drink dishwasher runoff.

#10: Post by **barry** » March 22nd, 2006, 9:56 pm

Wescott wrote:Somewhere, on some forum, someone suggested using dishwasher detergent instead of Urnex for soaking portafilters. It works well for me, and it's one more special supply that I don't need to hunt down.

i've used cascade powder for years.

one caution: watch out for the fragrances which are sometimes added to such material. they can be hard to get rid of afterwards.