well water and softener systems

*possibly revealing how stupid I really am here

so, we have a well and have a water softener and purification system.

the water softener is basically a rubbermaid garbage can looking thing with a tall pipe like thing in it and a thin rubber tube coming out of it and going into another thing.

there is a load of softener tablets inside the tall rubbermaid...and here is my confusion...

am *I* supposed to do anything with the tablets? or are they absorbed somehow with this contraption and then fed into the water system automatically.

I think this probably makes no sense...unless you have a similar set up..and then maybe you can help me.

thanks.

Re: well water and softener systems

While we don't have well water, my house does have a water softener.

Just like yours, ours is a big plastic garbage pail looking thing with hose attachements. We rent the service. It is filled with salt crystals that the company fills up every couple of months. However, I have seem them in the hardware store so I think we may start filling it up on our own.

Do you have a contract with yours?

Re: well water and softener systems

I installed my own whole-house water softener system. Again, it looks like a big garbage can, just like yours. We buy bags from BJs. A bag lasts roughly a month for us (it varies, depending on how much salt you need to use, and how hard your water is). It's pretty cheap and easy to just buy them yourself and pour them in. Just keep the tank filled, and you never have to think about it. I've had mine for 8 years, and never had to do anything with it other than add more salt pellets.

Re: well water and softener systems

thanks!

so once we have salt in the large container, we don't need to put it anywhere else, right?

that was my understanding, but dh thinks we are supposed to put it somewhere else manually....

there is a service, but they are beaucoup expensive...if it's something easy, I'd rather diy.

Re: well water and softener systems

Just take a bag, open it up, and dump the entire thing in the main "garbage can" tank. That's it. You may need to manually update the salt level, if you have a meter, but even that's optional.

That's it. Salt only goes in one spot, and when it starts to get empty, put more in. It doesn't get much more simple than that...

Re: well water and softener systems

Every 3 or 4 months you need to refill the salt tank.. Look for sodium free salt.. Do you hear your system flush once a day? My use to flush every night around 2am...