Water Softeners

[C.Arden]

We just moved into a house that has a GE water softening system. I've never had a water softener before and I can't find the manual so I was wondering if anyone could tell me what kind of maintenance it will need? How often does it need to have salt added and what about the controls on top? I don't have a model number or anything for it either, so anything general to get me started would be great.

[timneh_mom]

Hello,

We have had a water softener for a long time. The biggest thing you'll need to do for maintenence is to make sure your salt bin doesn't run empty. It's not that big of a deal if it does, but your water will run hard until you put more salt in and let it recharge.

As far as the controls on top, they are there to determine how many pounds of salt are needed for a recharge, and how often to charge it up. One of them is probably a timer or clock of some kind. We usually have ours set to recharge at night, because when the softener is recharging, your home's water supply will bypass the softener, and you will get hard water out of your tap. Again, not harmful but I know our water tastes horrible when it's hard so it will be unpleasant.

Otherwise I don't know what else to tell you. You could try to go on GE's website and see if you can find any information, sometimes you can download manuals for different appliances and stuff. You might also be able to find a local place that sells and maintains softeners and they might be able to either come out or talk you through setting up the controls over the phone.