Water Treatment in Brentwood

Replacing an Aging Softener

Most softeners last somewhere between ten and fifteen years. What usually goes first is the resin, which stops holding its capacity, or the control valve that runs the regeneration cycle. The symptom is the same either way: scale and spotting come back even though the tank still has salt in it.

One thing worth knowing before a straight swap. Newer units flush a lot more water when they regenerate than the one you are replacing, so the old drain arrangement is often not adequate. On a recent replacement we built a proper air gap and tapped into a drain that could take the volume, rather than connecting the new unit to what happened to be there. Skipping that is how you end up with a backed-up drain in the room where the softener lives.

When a Softener Stops Working

Not every fault needs a new unit. The common ones are worth checking first:

A salt bridge, where the salt has crusted into a solid arch above the water and the unit is drawing from nothing beneath it. A clogged injector or venturi, which stops the brine being pulled through. A control valve that has lost its programming after a power cut and is no longer regenerating on schedule. Or simply a bypass valve left in the bypass position after other plumbing work, which means the water is going straight past the softener.

Those are all repairs. Resin failure on a unit past a decade old usually is not worth chasing, and we will say so rather than sell you a repair that buys a year.

Salt, or No Salt

A traditional softener removes the calcium and magnesium by ion exchange, which is why the water feels different and why soap lathers properly. It needs salt topping up and it regenerates on a cycle.

A salt-free conditioner such as FlowTech does not remove the minerals. It changes their form so they stop sticking to pipe walls, heat exchangers and fixtures. There is no salt to buy, nothing to regenerate, and no discharge to drain. If your reason for wanting treatment is protecting a tankless heater and appliances rather than changing how the water feels, that is often the better fit. We install both and we will tell you which one your situation actually calls for.

Whole-Home Filtration

Softening and filtration are different jobs, and plenty of Brentwood homes want both. A whole-home catalytic carbon filter deals with chlorine, chloramine and the taste and smell that come with them, at every tap rather than just the kitchen. Softening or conditioning deals with the hardness.

We fitted exactly that pairing on a new Brentwood home: a whole-home catalytic carbon filter for the water quality and a FlowTech MAX for the scale. See whole-home water filters for what that install involves.

New Builds and Pre-Plumbed Loops

A lot of newer Brentwood houses are pre-plumbed for a softener: a loop of pipe left in the garage or mechanical room with the intention that something gets fitted later. If yours has one, the install is straightforward and there is no need to open walls.

If it does not, the loop has to be added, along with a drain for regeneration and a power outlet if the unit needs one. That is the difference between a simple installation and a longer one, and it is the first thing we look at when we quote.

Sizing and Upkeep

Softeners are sized on household size, water hardness and peak demand, not on the square footage of the house. Undersizing means constant regeneration and salt you did not need to buy; oversizing wastes money up front. Larger Brentwood homes with several bathrooms running at once are the ones where twin-tank systems start to make sense, because one tank stays in service while the other regenerates.

Upkeep on a salt unit is checking the salt every month or two and breaking up any bridging. A salt-free conditioner needs none. We will test your water on the estimate rather than guessing at the hardness, because that number is what decides the size.