This is where widespread incorrect information found on the internet and elsewhere can hide the real answer.
Water softener grains.
Water softener sizing chart.
There are however two aspects of this statement that are misleading.
The rated capacity of a softener is the maximum number of grains of water hardness the unit can remove prior to regeneration.
One grain of hardness is equal to 1 7 000 pound of rock.
So what size of water softener offers 21 000 grains of total softening capacity.
A water softener advertised as a 32 000 grain system should be able to remove 32 000 grains of hardness before it requires regeneration right.
What is sold typically as a 32 000 grain system contains 1 cubic foot of water softening resin.
How is the hardness of water measured.
If one looks at the specification.
What does the grain capacity of a water softener mean.
A water softener that is too small will not be able to keep up with your needs and will wear it down faster.
So a 32 000 grain capacity water softener should be able to remove 32 000 grains of hardness before you need to regenerate it again but this isn t strictly true.
In simple words even though a 33 000 grain system can remove 33 000 hardness grains from water in a two regeneration cycle it would require a very.
This means that with 8 3 lbs of salt it could be possible to regenerate up to 27 600 grains.
The hardness of water is measured in grains per gallon gpg.
If tested under lab conditions the softener will indeed remove this amount and that s because things like water pressure flow and temperature are monitored closely.
A quick look online and in many stores will reveal an abundance of 24 000 32 000 48 000 and 64 000 grain capacity water softeners.