Water softener equipments work over the chemical composition of water, by reducing calcium and magnesium, both responsible of lime incrustations. Water flows through the ions exchanger resins and the calcium and magnesium ions are replaced with sodium ions. This chemical action causes the water softening, and when water gets out of the equipment, it doesn’t make incrustations anymore because it is no longer hard water.
As the water flows through the equipment, with the time, the resins get saturated of calcium and magnesium, and the water softener needs then to be regenerated by means of a sodium chloride solution (salt and water), which is taken from the salt deposit. Through this salt regeneration, the water softener can recharge its resins with sodium ions and goes on with the water softening process.