The most common water softener resin used in water softeners is made of plastic. Yes, water softener resin is actually just small tiny beads of plastic. Since these beads are made of a long-lasting, durable plastic they theoretically should never go bad.
Can water softener resin go bad? Even though water softener resin is made of durable plastic, it can be damaged by continued exposure to high levels of chlorine or excessive build-up of iron on the resin.
These little beads of plastic resin are able to attract hardness ions that are contained in water. If these resin beads are only removing hardness ions from water and they are having the hardness ions replaced with sodium ions during the regeneration process, they should not wear out or lose their ability to remove hardness from water for a very long time.
How does the resin get damaged?
Only exposure to corrosive chemicals like chlorine will damage standard plastic softening resin. But in some cases of high amounts of iron in the water, the resin can develop a coating of iron that in time will cover the entire resin bead to the point where it can no longer attract hardness from the water and therefore not be effective for the removal of hardness.
Some water softening systems use a fine mesh resin. This is just a smaller sized resin bead that is used to create more resin surface area per square inch. These resins work the same as standard resin and have the same life span, providing they are not exposed to chlorine.
How long should water softening resin last?
Usually, a water softeners control valve will need to be replaced or rebuilt long before the resin inside the softeners tank needs to be changed. As long as the water softeners control valve is working properly, the resin will be regenerated regularly, and therefore the resin should last for many years.
But this does not mean that your system will never need to be re-bedded.
How do you re-bed a water softener?
Re-bedding a water softener may be needed if the control valve needs to be removed for a repair or replacement because of the distributor tube that is connected to the valve and goes all the way down to the bottom of the tank. This tube is surrounded by the softening resin and by gravel under-bedding at the bottom.
When the control valve needs to be removed for repair or for replacement, it can sometimes pull this tube up with it. Once this tube has been pulled up above the gravel under bedding, it can seldom be worked back down again, and therefore the entire tank will need to be emptied.
Can you clean and re-use the softening resin?
Even though it is possible to reuse the old resin, it is recommended to start fresh with new under bedding and resin as dirt and debris may have worked its way down into the under bedding and can cause a loss of water pressure.
Chlorine is commonly used to disinfect municipal water supplies. Although the intent of using chlorine to make the water safer to drink, if the water softening resin inside your water softener is exposed to chlorine, the resin will absorb the chlorine and in time cause the resin to break down and become soft.
What does chlorine do to water softening resin?
When the plastic resin is exposed to chlorine long enough the resin will expand in size and mush together.
This expansion will create less and less space between each resin bead to the point where water will have little room to get through the bedding of resin.
This will cause a drop in water pressure and loss of water hardness removal ability. Once this happens to the softener resin it will need to be replaced.
Are there resins that can be used when there is chlorine?
There are types of water softening resin that are highly chlorine resistant and will not be affected by regular exposure to moderate levels of chlorine.
These resins are called silica crystal resins. They are a man-made resin that is made for removing high levels of iron while also working as water softening resin as well.
These resins are very effective, but they too can be damaged by phosphates that are found in some water softener salts. So even they may require re-bedding after long term exposure to these phosphates.
The two types of chlorine resistant resins.
The first is a resin that is for use in low pH water when high iron is present, and the water needs to be softened.
This resin also has two side benefits to it. It has the ability to remove some acid from the water, therefore, raising the pH of the water. It also can help with a mild sulfur odor.
For example, water with 10 hardness, 2.0 ppm (parts per million) of iron, low pH of 6.7, and an occasional whiff of mild sulfur, can be treated to 0 hardness, 0 iron, pH of 7.0 and no odor.
The second of these silica crystal resins is for water with a pH of above 7.0. It works for high iron, softens the water and can help if there are mild sulfur odors as well.
What you can do to make your water softeners resin last.
The best way to ensure a long life for your water softeners resin is to be sure to have it regenerating often enough to keep the resin fresh and to prevent exposure to chlorine.
If your water comes from a chlorinated source, it is highly recommended that you use a water softener that first exposes the water to a bed of carbon to remove the chlorine and other chemicals that may be potentially harmful to the water softening resin bed.
This carbon bed will need to be replaced after several years, depending on the amount of chlorinated water used, and the level of chlorine that is being removed.
But this carbon bed is not very difficult to replace yourself on some systems and is not very expensive to replace as well.
When on chlorinated water supply, this carbon bedded softener is a good option compared to the total re-bedding of the unit every few years.
Test your water supplies chlorine level and if you can, get a report of the chlorine levels that are being introduced to your water supply.
If your water is expected to have a high level of chlorine, you may want to consider having a completely separate carbon system, specifically for chlorine removal.
Under normal conditions, your water softening resin should outlast the rest of the softener. But if you have iron in your water or chlorine, be sure to protect the resin or re-bed the system when needed.
Related Questions:
Is there a water softener resin cleaner? You can get a water softening resin cleaner. It is a mild acid that can remove iron build-up on water softening resin and prolong its life.
Can water softener salt go bad? Salt can’t exactly go bad, but it can break down. If water softener pellets are left in a very humid area for a long period of time, they can break down and turn into a mushy powder.
I have a two tank water softener system in my house (Pentair). I will be away for several months or maybe up to a year at a time. Do I keep the water softener tanks on and on its regeneration schedule even though water is not being used?
What about the salt? No one will be around to add salt if needed.
What steps can I take to prepare the water softener system for an extended period of less-than normal or no usage?
On the other hand, when I return, how do I safely get my system back up to speed?
Thanks!
Hello Terence, and thank you for the question.
Pentair water softeners often have a Fleck metered control valve on them. This means that they will only regenerate when a pre-set amount of water has been used. If you bypass the system, no water will go through the softener and it will not regenerate which also means that it will not use any salt. I decided to put together an article with your question in mind. Please read Should I Turn Off My Water Softener When I Go On Vacation? for more details.
Thank you again for your question.
Paul
Hello, will resin “media” going bad cause brown water? And does it go suddenly? (Water clear, then later that day, brown?)
Can anything happen while adding salt that can cause this? Is there anything else that can cause this? Thank you
Hello, and thank you for the question.
Water softening resin will lose its effectiveness gradually. It does NOT work just fine one day, and then the next day it becomes ineffective. It wears out over time.
If you are experiencing occasional brown water, it is likely because you are using water while your water softener is regenerating, or your water softening resin is developing a build-up of iron which is getting released all at once. This often happens when your water softener is not regenerating thoroughly enough on a regular basis.
I would first check your water softener clock to see that it is set for the correct time. Most water softeners have a clock that you set just like a regular digital clock. Make sure that your water softener clock is set for the correct time and your water softener should regenerate in the middle of the night when you are not using water.
If you have iron in your water, it can cause clogging of the injector in the control valve. If this injector gets clogged, your water softener will not get a sufficient dose of brine from the salt tank which it uses to remove the hard minerals and iron from the water softening resin. If the water softener does not get sufficient brine, the resin will not get sufficiently clean, and eventually, you can get a large dose of iron coming off of the resin, and coming out in your water.
You may not be getting soft water from your water softener. Test your water for hardness and iron, if you are getting hard water and don’t feel comfortable working on your water softener yourself, contact a local water softener professional to have your system serviced.
The water softening resin may need to be changed, but unless water softening resin is damaged by chlorine or other chemicals, it will usually last for many, many years. I have found water softeners with 30-year-old resin in them that was still working just fine.
I hope this was helpful.
Paul
I have a two tank water softening system, one neutralizer and one water softener. I also have a sediment filter tank. The neutralizer and water softener drain out of the same hose through a PVC pipe that runs to the outside of the house. The sediment tank has a separate drain hose but runs together with the other hose to drain outside of the house. The cycles are scheduled to run at different times during the night. Recently, I had resin leak out of the water softener tank and clog the PVC drain that leads to the outside. I did not notice any resin in my toilets or sinks.
Any guesses as to why the resin leaked out?
Thanks for your help.
Hello Miss Dolan and thank you for the question.
The resin most likely escaped from the water softener during regeneration. Sometimes the baskets (screens) that prevent the resin from escaping the tank can develop a crack in them. When this happens the resin may not come out during normal operation because the flow of water is relatively slow, but during the regeneration process the flow is much stronger and therefore the resin can escape and clog your drain line.
Often, just some of the resin will escape and the water softener could still work fine but sometimes enough of the resin will escape so that you will experience hard water after a short period of time simply because there is not enough resin left to soften your water for very long.
I hope this was helpful!
Paul
Hello Paul, I experienced resin in my toilets and plumbing fixtures. This was after losses in water pressure in various faucets. The company that sold me the softener said the resin broke down because it’s 5 years old and my municipal water supply is chlorinated. He sold me a new resin tank prefilled with resin. After doing more reading on this subject, I’m not sure this is the solution. I have a Fleck 7000SXT and a 48000 grain tank. I’ve bypassed the valve and have not yet installed the new tank. Is it possible that resin breakdown could cause resin backup into the plumbing system? Should I rebuild the control unit? I installed a whole house filter in-line after the softener to catch any additional resin discharges but am reluctant to just plug in the new tank if the same thing is going to happen. Thanks for any advice!
Hello Mr. D and thank you for the question.
Water softener resin can break down if exposed to chlorine for a long period of time, but before it breaks down it will often expand and cause a loss of water pressure. It is possible for water softener resin to get through the plastic screens that are inside of the tank if the resin breaks down or the screens develop a crack or the slots in the screens expand.
Chlorine can cause the plastic screens to get brittle over time which makes it more possible for the plastic to wear and make the slots bigger. Rebuilding the control vale is not likely necessary unless you find that resin has remained inside of the valve which I find to be rare.
If the chlorine level in your water is high, the resin inside of the new tank will most likely break down again after several years. You could install a carbon pre-filter tank to remove the chlorine before the water softener which would protect the resin but the carbon would need to be replaced after a few years.
The problem with installing a carbon pre-filter is that you may not know when the carbon is no longer removing the chlorine because the water softening resin will also remove chlorine from the water. So you could end up with a carbon tank that is no longer effective and still have to replace the water softening resin. This could take many years though.
If you install a carbon pre-filter, I recommend installing a sample tap between the carbon tank and the water softener so that you can test for chlorine a few times a year. This will help you gauge when the carbon will need to be replaced before the chlorine can ruin the water softener resin.
The new tank should work just fine, but if you don’t remove the chlorine before it gets to the resin, it will probably cause the same problem again.
I hope this was helpful.
Paul
Hi Paul,
I just had a new water softener installed. The now my water has a very strong plastic smell to it. I’ve done a regeneration, drained the hot water tank and once repeated those steps again. Still smells awful. Any ideas?
Hello B and thank you for the question.
This is quite common with new water softeners and the smell should go away soon. Because a water softener is made mostly of plastic parts, your water makes contact with many plastic surfaces in the water softener system before it goes into your home.
Sometimes the new plastic surfaces contain tiny particles of plastic leftover from manufacturing that can end up in your water giving it a plastic smell.
You can regenerate it a few times to help speed up removing the plastic smell from your water but it may take a few weeks for it to completely clear depending on your water characteristics and the volume of water that you use.
Hope this was helpful.
Paul
I purchased a softener and the media was hard … didn’t even move when tipped on its side . Is this normal ? Will it become loose after water hits it over time ?
Hello John and thank you for the question.
Many water softeners have their resin trapped in the tank with a plate on the top and bottom of the resin to prevent the resin from getting drawn into the control valve or washed out of the drain line.
I believe that the resin is probably just fine it is just deliberately being contained in one section of the tank. I have never seen new water softener resin clump together or become a solid block of resin.
If you find that your water does not come out soft when you install it, contact the manufacturer or where you purchased it immediately.
I hope this was helpful.
Paul
Hello Paul, I installed a Fleck 5600sxt system 2 years ago, recently every time the system regenerates the home water pressure drops pretty bad, especially in the shower. When this happens I put in on bypass and the water pressure gets back to normal so I keep the bypass on for a couple of days then turning off and everything works fine until the next regeneration when I have to repeat the same process. Someone recommended changing the resin but I wonder if the resin can go bad in about two years. Should I change the resin, or is something else causing this water pressure to drop? Thanks!
Hello and thank you for the question.
I don’t think that the water softener is the problem as the amount of water used by the water softener should not change over time.
More than likely, the water pressure before the water softener is the problem. Your pressure tank may have lost pressure if you have a well or there could be a problem with a pressure regulator if you have municipal water.
It is possible that debris has gotten into the resin or that the resin has been damaged if it has been exposed to chlorine over time.
I hope this was helpful.
Paul
I had a hvac guy put in a hot water heater and softener. He had the hot water from the water heater running into the water softener. We are seeing a pressure drop. We had a plumber come out and plumb the cold well water into the softener and softened water into the hot water heater. The plumber told my wife the hot water may have melted the ion exchange beads and they were clogging our faucets. Is this possible? Is there any way to get rid of the beads? I don’t see yellow beads in our water. The softener was brand new. Are the beads clear? Colored?
Hello Jim and thank you for the question.
It is certainly possible for hot water to cause damage to standard water softener resin.
Hot water can cause water softener resin to expand which can restrict water flow through the resin bed but this often takes some time in residential water softeners because the hot water in the average home is not normally set to a high enough temperature to damage water softener resin right away.
Water softener resin can escape from a water softener resin tank and clog faucets, and showerheads and it can sometimes settle in dips in toilet and faucet feed lines.
Common water softener resin is an amber brown color and often looks like a grain of sand but there are some specialty water softener resins that are lighter in color.
If you have lost a small amount of resin from your water softener, it should have little effect on the water softener’s performance as a standard water softener does not utilize %100 of the resin during normal use and you should still have soft water.
If you have soft water now that there is cold water going through the water softener, I don’t believe that the resin has had significant damage to it.
I hope this was helpful!
Paul