Whole house water softener installation

Install Water Softener is an independent referral service, not an installer or plumber. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local water treatment pro who can contact you and prepare a quote.

Whole house or point of use

Water treatment comes in two broad shapes. A point-of-use system treats water at one fixture, such as a filter or reverse osmosis unit under the kitchen sink. A point-of-entry system, which is what a whole house softener is, treats water where it enters the house. Hardness causes scale and soap scum wherever water is used, on fixtures, in the shower and in appliances, which is why softeners are fitted at the point of entry rather than at one tap.

If you search for a whole house water softener, most results are product listings. Buying the unit is the easy half. The half that decides whether you are happy with it is the installation: the size, the place, the settings and the plumbing.

Signs the whole house has hard water

Hard water shows itself in more than one room, which is a hint that the answer belongs at the point of entry. The utilities and agencies that publish on it describe the same signs:

• Soap scum and soap that will not lather, so you use more soap or detergent to get things clean (USGS, EPA)
• Deposits on dishes, glasses, plumbing fixtures and wash basins (water utilities)
• Scale building up on pipes (water utilities)
• Scaling in pipes and water heaters and on plumbing fixtures (utility water quality reports)

If you see these in the kitchen, the bathrooms and the laundry, a softener at one tap would not reach them. The signs of hard water guide explains how to confirm it with a figure before you spend anything.

Step one: find out what is in your water

Hardness is the main number. It is caused by calcium and magnesium, and it is printed in milligrams per liter (mg/L; some reports print it as parts per million, or ppm) or in grains per gallon. One grain is about 17 mg/L. The U.S. Geological Survey grades it this way:

USGS hardness grades, with grains worked out at about 17 mg/L per grain

Hardness (mg/L as calcium carbonate)	About in grains per gallon	USGS grade
0 to 60	0 to 3.5	Soft
61 to 120	3.5 to 7	Moderately hard
121 to 180	7 to 10.5	Hard
More than 180	More than 10.5	Very hard

On city water, your utility’s yearly water quality report gives the hardness for its customers. It can vary inside one city: where a utility draws on both groundwater and surface water, the figure depends on which source feeds your street. Some utilities soften before the water reaches you, to a level they call suitable for all home uses. Read your own report before you buy.

On a private well, no utility tests the water for you. EPA and CDC advise testing a private well at least once a year, with a certified laboratory. Ask the lab to include hardness and iron alongside the safety tests.

Iron, manganese and the rest

A softener is built for hardness, but other things in the water change what a pro suggests. EPA’s secondary guidelines, which are not enforced and cover taste, color and staining, give 0.3 mg/L for iron, above which water can stain reddish orange, and 0.05 mg/L for manganese, which can stain black. They also give 500 mg/L for total dissolved solids and a pH range of 6.5 to 8.5. If your test or your sinks show any of these, tell the pro: the answer may be a softener plus a filter, or a different system.

Step two: size the system

A softener removes hardness until its resin is full, then cleans itself with salt water from the brine tank. The bigger the resin capacity, the more hardness it can remove between cleanings. Size depends on your hardness and on how much water your household uses: more people and more bathrooms mean more water through the system each day. A pro multiplies one by the other and adds room for iron if there is any. The sizing guide walks through the arithmetic without prices.

Too small, and the softener regenerates often and may let hard water through at busy times. Too large, and you pay for capacity you do not use. Ask the pro which figures they used and to show the working.

Step three: choose the spot

A whole house softener goes on the main line where it enters the house, before the line branches to the water heater, so hot and cold water are both softened. On a well, it goes after the pressure tank. If a sediment or carbon filter is added, ask the pro which goes first and why.

• A drain nearby for the rinse water from regeneration
• A power outlet for the control head
• Room for the resin tank, the brine tank and salt bags
• Access to the bypass valve, and space to service the unit later
• A level floor away from freezing and direct sun

In many homes that means the garage, the basement or a utility room. If the main line comes in where there is no drain or power, the quote may include running them.

Step four: the installation itself

Once the size and spot are settled, the install follows a fixed order: the water to the house is shut off, a bypass valve is fitted on the main line, the inlet and outlet are connected to the control head, the drain line and brine line are run, the control head is powered, and the system is filled, checked for leaks and programmed. Many cities require a plumbing permit for this work; ask whether yours does. The plumber’s page covers each connection and the permit examples in detail.

Adding a filter or other treatment

A softener removes hardness. It is not a filter for chlorine taste, lead or anything else. If you want those dealt with too, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s advice applies everywhere: first ask what you want removed, then choose a unit certified by NSF, UL or the Water Quality Association to remove that. NSF/ANSI 44 is the standard for softeners, 42 for aesthetic effects such as chlorine taste and odor, and 53 for health effects such as lead. The softener versus filter article compares the two.

Salt-based or salt-free

Most of this page describes salt-based ion exchange softeners, the kind NSF/ANSI 44 covers. Salt-free conditioners are a different technology. If you are offered one, ask what it is certified for and what it does to hardness. The salt-free page has the questions to ask.

What to settle before you accept a quote

1. The hardness figure the system was sized from, and its source.
2. The unit’s capacity and its certification.
3. Where it will be installed, and whether hot water is softened.
4. The drain and power arrangements, and any extra work they need.
5. Whether a permit is needed and who files it.
6. Any filter included, and its place in the line.
7. Upkeep: what the maker asks for, and who does it.

A written quote that lists these is easy to compare with another. If one quote is much bigger or smaller than the other, the list shows why.

Questions people ask