What Size Water Softener Do I Need?

Hard water is an all-too-common problem in households across North America. Water hardness can cause unsightly effects like soap scum and limescale buildup — but it doesn’t stop there. Hard water may also damage pipes, plumbing and water-using appliances. It can even irritate your skin, make your scalp feel itchy and leave your hair looking dull and flat.

Water softeners can help treat your water to address these concerns. To make sure that you get the most suitable appliance for your needs, you’ll have to determine which size water softener is best for you. 

But how do you do that? To find out what size water softener you need, you must identify factors such as water hardness levels and daily water consumption habits, then use this information to choose the proper softener capacity.

Working with your local water treatment expert will be the easiest and best way to ensure you get the right solution for your home, but it helps to understand the factors that go into their recommendation.
 

How to Start Sizing a Water Softener

Water softeners aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. That’s because water hardness levels differ depending on your geographic location. Even the source of your water makes a difference; for example, although hardness can be an issue for city water users, this problem is especially common in private and community wells.

Everyone has unique softening needs. If you choose a softener that can’t handle the hardness levels in your area, you may not get the soft water you’re hoping for. At the same time, if you select one that has more capacity than you need, you can decrease the efficiency of the system.

Where To Start

To determine what size water softener you need, you need to have two pieces of information at your disposal:

• The hardness level of your water
• Your daily water consumption

Keep in mind that, even once you have these things figured out, you’re still not ready to shop. You also need to understand factors like flow rate, grain capacity and more. On top of that, it’s smart to do a little background research to find out why water softeners are worth it — that way, you know exactly what to expect.

While these steps will help you get a sense of the right water softener size, there’s more to the story. If you’re wondering how to choose the best water softener, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to rely on guesswork or even your own research to make this important decision. Instead, you can consult a local water expert — one who understands hardness levels and other factors in your area and can make custom recommendations. 

Tired of hard water headaches? Get your FREE Hard Water Solutions Handbook.

 

Determining the Hardness of Your Water

Water hardness is caused by high levels of calcium and magnesium, which means it’s invisible to the naked eye. Home water testing is required to determine the hardness of your water. This is typically expressed in grains per gallon (gpg), parts per million (ppm) or milligrams per liter (mg/L). These rates indicate how many units of calcium carbonate or calcium carbonate equivalents are found in a given volume of water.

Here’s how water hardness is measured:

GPG

• Soft: Less than 1 gpg

• Slightly hard: Between 1 and 3.5 gpg

• Moderately hard: Between 3.5 and 7 gpg

• Hard: Between 7 and 10.5 gpg

• Very hard: More than 10.5 gpg

MG/L (Equivalent to PPM)

• Soft: Less than 60 mg/L

• Medium hard: Between 60 and 120 mg/L

• Hard: Between 120 and 180 mg/L

• Very hard: More than 180 mg/L

 

How to Measure Your Water Hardness Level

A free, in-home water test and consultation is often the best way to determine your water’s hardness levels. These tests don’t just give you a number and leave you to figure out what it means. Instead, a local water expert helps you interpret those results and decide which steps to take next.

Once you know the gpg, ppm or mg/L level for your hard water, you can start thinking about the relative grain capacity that you may require from a softener.

What Does Grain Capacity Mean?

Water hardness minerals are often measured in grains. Grain capacity refers to the total amount of minerals a softener can remove before regeneration is required. 

In ion-exchange softeners, which are most common, regeneration is necessary when the small resin beads in the appliance become fully saturated with hardness grains. Each resin bead is then rinsed with a brine solution, which allows them to keep working smoothly.

Do All Water Softeners Use Salt?

You may have heard of salt-free water softeners, which don’t use salt because they work differently than ion-exchange softeners and therefore, don’t have a regeneration phase that requires use of a salt solution. These appliances are a good choice for some households, especially if you’re in an area with brine restrictions, but it’s important to note these don’t actually remove hardness minerals but rather change their structure. As such, they don’t technically create soft water; however, they do address some of the issues associated with water hardness.
 

How Much Water Will Your Softener Need To Handle?

Once you know how hard your water is, it’s time to learn about your daily water consumption habits. This helps determine the appropriate size for your water softener. The more water you use, the harder your water softener will have to work, and the more frequently it will have to regenerate. This is important because appliances that regenerate more often require a greater amount of water and salt.

To find out about how much water you use, take a look at your water bill and divide it by the number of days in the billing period. If you don’t have that information, a good rule of thumb is to estimate about 50-75 gallons per person per day. This information can help you figure out a suitable grain capacity based on your water usage habits.

The Impact of Flow Rate

Your water softener will also need to be able to handle the requirements for flow rates in your household. Typically, the more people in a home, the greater the probability that multiple taps may be running at the same time. Long showers or added appliances such as hot tubs also may increase household flow rates. If your softener can’t handle the flow, the device may not be able to adequately treat hardness for the household, and it could affect overall water pressure throughout the home.
 

Putting It All Together: Assessing Water Softener Capacity

After determining your water’s hardness levels and your household’s water consumption, you need to know how these factors fit together. To do so, you may need to pull out a calculator and run some quick numbers.

Say you have five people in your household, and each person uses 65 gallons. In this scenario, your daily water usage totals 325 gallons.

Now, let’s assume your water has 11 grains per gallon of hardness. This would be considered very hard. When you multiply 11 by 325, you get the total number of grains of hardness minerals that need to be treated in your water each day: 3,575.

Next, take a look at the grain capacity of the water softener that you’re considering. Let’s say it’s 32,000, which is a typical capacity for a home water softener. Divide this number by 3,575 to find out how often your softener will need to regenerate based on rated salt efficiency, which will impact the amount of salt you use.

How Does Regeneration Relate to Softener Capacity?

Softener capacity refers to how much the system can handle before regeneration is necessary. The capacity impacts how much salt is required over time to make sure that the device can continue to treat water hardness.
 

Consequences of Improperly Sizing Your Water Softener

Ultimately, getting the right size water softener is the only way to ensure that your water is adequately treated for hardness without requiring constant regeneration. Without sufficient grain capacity, the softener will have to regenerate more often, using extra salt and straining the appliance.

Is an Oversized Water Softener Bad?

An oversized water softener will certainly have the capacity to make sure that every gallon of water you use is appropriately treated for hardness. On the other hand, going too big can result in “channeling,” which occurs when there isn’t enough water to fill the entire softener. As a result, hard water creates a “groove” by repeatedly following the same limited path between resin beads. This causes the beads to become oversaturated, which reduces the effectiveness of the entire unit — especially at low flow rates.

Because regeneration occurs less frequently with a larger softener, you may use less salt in the long run. However, getting an appliance that’s far too big for your needs may be more costly upfront, and you should still use a size that requires regular regeneration.

Why Should I Buy a High-Efficiency Water Softener?

High-efficiency water softeners can be designed to adjust to the specific water conditions in your household, allowing you to treat hard water without wasting extra salt or money in the process. For example, some water softeners use technology designed to optimize salt, water and electricity usage, decreasing your operating costs. 
 

Start Treating Water Hardness in Your Home Today

Selecting the best water softener for your needs doesn’t have to be a complex decision; it just takes a little planning. Working with a professional can be a convenient way to find the correct size for your household. Remember, having the right softener is the best way to ensure optimal efficiency based on your hardness levels and usage patterns.

The first step is to determine your home’s water hardness levels with a professional test. Schedule your free, in-home water test and consultation today.