Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Distributor Failure in Bottom of Resin Tank

A customer has had 2 distributor failures within a relatively short time.
This time he thinks he may have lost the majority of his resin.
Can you please shed some light on possible causes for distributors to fail.
I'd like to make sure his third one lasts longer.

* Here is what I know will effect distributor life.
1 ) Too much water pressure ( over 80 psi ).
2 ) Not backwashing ( regenerating ) often enough. System should regenerate
at least once every 7 days.
I've run into "metered" or "demand" systems with just one or two people and
it takes them 2 - 3 weeks to "require" a regeneration.
This is too long for the resins to be "packed" down and not "fluffed up".
3 ) Highly Chlorinated water can break the resins down into small fragments.
These fragments get stuck in the fine slots of the bottom distributor. This
results in there being less "holes" for the water to flow through, thus
causing the pressure through the remaining holes or slots to become very
high. Eventually the pressure of the water becomes too high and the plastic
gives way. Then the larger ( normal size ) resins can get into the pipes.
4 ) Too high of flow rates can be a problem. Residential size softeners (
tank diameters between 8 - 10 inches ) are made for flow rates of less than
8 gpm. And a normal home will peak around 5 - 6 gpm while filling the
laundry tub, or the bath tub. If the demand it greater than this, the system
needs to have a larger tank diameter, and a gravel under bedding should be
used.

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