Do you want to determine the water softener size that suits your home best to overcome the hard water issue? As an essential house with hard water, it seems appropriate to get proper know-how about the size of the water softener. After reading our post “how to determine water softener size,” you can make the best decision about the water softener size of your house. Our research is based on the experience of several years.
Step-By-Step Guide of how to Determine water softener size?
It is tough for the ordinary person to determine water softener size because it is tough to do so. Most people make purchasing decisions keeping in view their budget. But, sorry to say that it is not the right factor in decision making. So, let’s see what the facts reveal?
Considerable Facts While Determining Water Softener Size:
The customer needs to focus on the facts “how to determine water softener size” from several points of view.
Mostly the water softeners have the following capacities
32,000 GR
48,000 GR
56,000 GR
64,000 GR But, keep in mind beyond these capacities, water softeners are also available. I’ve mentioned these to figure out the question “how to determine water softener size”? The manufacturers engineer the product, keeping in view GR( grains) capacity.
However, the user needs to understand the formula that manufacturer follow in the production of the water softener for a house. One GR stands for the1/7000th of a pound worth of minerals that the softener can remove from your water. You need to apply the exact quantity of salt for the regeneration cycle, to get the exact capacity that is over the softeners’ GR figure. The GR capacity of the softeners and the use of salt’s amount, everything is mentioned in owner’s manual. For best results you need to follow the guidelines.
Furthermore, the manufacturers describe 32,000 grain system as “1 cubic foot” system due to yielding one cubic foot of softening resin. The user needs to use 36 pounds of salt for every regeneration cycle to achieve 32,000 grain capacity from the system. But if you minimize the quantity of salt the grain capacity of the system will also decrease. For instance, if you use six pounds of salt to regenerate one cubic foot system, you can attain 20,000 grain capacity from the system.
In other words, it is best to state that, consuming less amount of salt is not a bad idea. There must be a balance between the amount of water consumption and money saving (purchasing less salt).
Purchasing less salt + consuming less salt= Discharge less salt to the environment.
Water Consumption
The water consumption is another factor that determines the water softener size. The amount od daily water that you use to satisfy your daily water needs is the quickest method of determining the water softener size. This process goes as, calculate your usage of daily water and then multiplying that number by your gpg (hardness level of water). This calculation will enable you to determine how many mineral grain do your water softener needs to clean water per day.
Water Hardness Level of Your Home
Moreover, the level of hardness of water also determine the water softener size. The hardness level of hardness of water varies from region to region. So, to determine the size of water softener you need to get your water tested. Getting a test of your home water will enable you to get the answer of question “how to determine water softener size”. The various levels of hardness of water are given below and ppm stands for (parts per million). PPM represents the level of hardness of water.
| Category | Water Hardness |
| Soft | 10-50ppm |
| Slightly Hard | 50-100ppm |
| Hard | 100-200ppm |
| Very Hard | 200ppm or above |
Another criterion for determining the level of hardness of water is as below. Here GPG stands for grains per gallon:
| Category | Water Hardness |
| Soft | 0-3 gpg |
| Slightly Hard | 3-7 gpg |
| Hard | 7-11 gpg |
| Very Hard | 11 gpg and above |
How to Determine Water Softener Size, If You are a Family of Four?
A family consisting of four members uses about 300 gallons of water per day (4* 75 gallons). Assume the hard ness of water is 10 gpg then the you need 3000 grains daily (300* 10= 3000 grains). The regeneration cycle must be once in a week. So, the calculation goes as:
For seven days’ family consisting of four members= 3000 * 7=21,000 grains.
From the example above the family can arrange the 24,000 grains water softener but instead 32,000 grains water softener will use less amount of salt and will cost less comparatively to 24,000 grains water softener.
Under sized Water Softener Problems:
If the water softener is small than your water consumption needs, then it is not good and will create several problems for you. If the system is small the hard water will make its way through the plumbing as it will be bypassed. It means you can’t enjoy the benefits of water softener system in spite of installing water softener.
Moreover, if your water softener is small the hard minerals in large quantity will stick to your system’s resin beads. So, to make it free from hard minerals you need regeneration cycle frequently, which will be expensive.
Oversized Water Softener Problems
Installing an oversized water softener needs less regeneration cycles because the stuck amount of minerals will be not in large quantity. But when you need to regenerate it you need to purchase and use a large amount of salt to soften the water. If you are using the oversized water softener it is not as bad as the undersized one. If you intend to buy the oversized water softener you must be acknowledge with the figures over the system to enjoy the positive results.
Final Thought
To answer the question how to determine water softener size, you must consider the amount of daily water usage and the hardness level of your water. After getting both these figures you can determine the water softener size precisely.
Furthermore, if you neglect both these factors and use an undersized or oversized water softener systems, definitely they have their own problems. So, determining the water softener size follow the formula that the manufacturers follow while engineering the best water softeners. To add this, if you have suggestions or recommendations please let us know through the comments below.