Sears KENMORE 625.34845 - Manual (Page 12)

HOW YOUR WATER SOFTENER WORKS
SECTION 2
12
2B. SOFT WATER SERVICE AND REGENERATION
BRINING: During brining, thebrineis moved
from thesalt storagearea, into theresin tank.
Inside the resin tank, brine cleans hardness
minerals from the resin beads and they are
discharged out thedrain. How much brineis
needed to clean the resin depends on:
-- the amount of resin in the softener,
-- how fast thebrinegoes through thebed.
Thenozzleand venturi (FIG. 6) makesuction to
takebrinefrom thesalt tank and put it into the
resin tank. They keep the brine flow down to a
very slow rate to get the best resin cleaning with
theleast salt.
BRINE RINSE: After all of thebrinegoes into the
resin tank, the brine valve closes. Water keeps
flowing thesameway it did during brining except
the brine flow has stopped. Hardness minerals
and brineflush from theresin tank to thedrain.
Brining and brine rinse together vary in length of
time they take, relative to the fill cycle length.
FIG. 6 WATER FLOW THROUGH THE
SOFTENER IN BRINING AND
BRINE RINSE
BACKWASH: During backwash, water flows UP
through theresin tank (FIG. 7) at a fast rateto flush
iron minerals, dirt and sediments from the bed and
to thedrain. Thebed lifts and expands for good
cleaning.
FIG. 7 WATER FLOW THROUGH THE
SOFTENER IN BACKWASH
FAST RINSE: Backwash is followed by a fast
flow of water down through the resin tank. The
fast flow packs the resin bed and gets it ready for
return to service (FIG. 8).
After fast rinse, the softener returns to service.
Hard water goes into the resin tank where the
resin bed again takes out the hardness minerals.
Soft water goes to the house soft water pipes.
FIG. 8 WATER FLOW THROUGH THE
SOFTENER IN FAST RINSE