Water Softeners

Ion exchange water softeners use water in order to clean the resin that is used to absorb the mineral content of the dwelling’s water supply. This cleaning process is referred to as the regeneration cycle which occurs on a frequency dependent on the type of water softener specified and the hardness of the water. The Water Calculator looks at the water consumed per regeneration cycle that is beyond a level of good practice. The good practice level has been determined at a level of water consumption as a percentage of the water softener’s total capacity which is set at 4 per cent.

Note the total capacity is the volume of water that flows through the water softener between regeneration cycles. This volume is dependent on the hardness of the water and the total capacity used in this calculation needs to reflect the hardness of water specific to the geographic location of the specific development.

• Enter the percentage of the water softener’s total capacity used per regeneration into column (a). If this is less than or equal to 4% then press ‘Calculate’.
• If the water consumed per regeneration is greater than 4%, enter the water consumed per regeneration into column (b), the average number of regeneration cycles per day into column (c) and the number of occupants served by the system into column (d). The number of occupants should be based on two occupants in the master bedroom and one occupant per additional bedroom. Once columns (a) to (d) are populated, press ‘Calculate’ to calculate the volume of water consumed beyond the 4% regeneration threshold.