Water softener installation in Omaha

Water Softener Omaha is an independent referral service, not an installer or plumber. When you send the form, your details are passed to an independent local water treatment pro, who can contact you and quote the work. Asking is free and you never have to buy.

Is a softener worth installing on M.U.D. water?

City water in Omaha comes from the Metropolitan Utilities District. M.U.D. says it lime-softens its water to about 170 milligrams per liter, which it states is the same as 10 grains per gallon, and calls that soft enough to be suitable for all home uses. It also says the water will deposit small amounts of tan calcium carbonate in pipes and on fixtures. On the U.S. Geological Survey’s general scale, 121 to 180 mg/L is graded hard.

Put together, a softener in Omaha is a choice rather than a necessity. Homeowners who choose one are buying less scale on faucets and glass, fewer spots on dishes and easier lather. If your home is on a private well or another water system, the M.U.D. figure does not apply: get a test first, as the water testing in Omaha page explains.

What a softener installation involves

Every install is shaped by the house, but the parts are the same. Knowing them lets you read a quote line by line and ask about anything left out.

The location

A whole-house softener goes on the main water line, after the point where the line enters the house, so that the water heater and the taps it feeds get softened water. It needs floor space for two tanks, a drain for the rinse water and an outlet for the control valve. That may be a basement or a utility room; the pro decides once they have seen your plumbing. Ask whether an outdoor hose bib or a kitchen cold line will be left on hard water, if you would prefer that.

The equipment

• The resin tank, which holds the ion exchange resin that swaps sodium or potassium for calcium and magnesium.
• The brine tank, which holds the salt and makes the brine that rinses the resin when it regenerates.
• The control valve on top of the resin tank, which decides when to regenerate and runs the cycle.
• A bypass valve, so the softener can be taken out of the line for service without shutting off the house.
• A drain line from the valve to a floor drain, laundry sink or standpipe, and an overflow line from the brine tank.

The setup

Once the unit is plumbed in, the control valve is programmed with your water’s hardness and the household’s use, the brine tank gets its first salt and the unit runs a cycle. Ask the pro to show you the bypass, how to add salt, how to read the display and what the settings are, and to leave the manual with you. The maker’s schedule tells you what to do from then on.

How a softener is sized

A softener is sized by how much hardness it must remove between regenerations. That depends on two numbers: how hard the water is and how much of it the house uses. Too small, and it regenerates more often than it should; too large, and you may pay for capacity you do not use. A good quote shows the numbers it was sized from.

What the pro asks	Why it matters
Hardness of your water	M.U.D. gives about 10 grains per gallon; a test of your tap confirms it. A well or another system needs its own test.
People in the home	Sets how much water passes through the softener each day.
Bathrooms and fixtures	Sets how much water the unit must deliver at once without the pressure dropping.
Iron or other problems	Iron or odor may call for a filter as well; ask the pro how it changes the equipment.
The pipe at the main line	Decides the fittings and the size of the valve.

Hardness is measured two ways. M.U.D. gives both: 170 mg/L is the same as 10 grains per gallon, which works out to about 17 mg/L for each grain. Softener settings use grains per gallon, lab reports use mg/L, and the Omaha water hardness guide shows how to move between them.

Replacing an old softener

A replacement looks simpler than a first install, and sometimes it is: the drain, the outlet and the space are already there. But the old connections may not suit the new valve, the old bypass may be stiff or leaking, and the old unit may have been sized for a different household. Ask whether the quote includes new fittings and a new bypass, and who removes and disposes of the old tanks.

Before you replace anything, make sure the old softener is really finished. A unit that has stopped softening may need a repair rather than a replacement: an empty salt tank, a salt bridge, a valve left in bypass or a clock reset by a power cut can all bring hard water back. The page on water softener repair in Omaha lists the checks to make first.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Is the unit certified to NSF/ANSI 44, the standard for residential ion exchange softeners?
• What hardness and household use was it sized from, and what capacity is it?
• Does the quote include the bypass valve, the drain and overflow lines, the fittings and the first salt?
• Which licenses and permits does the job need where I live, and can I see them?
• Will any tap be left on hard water, and why?
• Who removes the old unit, if there is one?
• What does the maker say about upkeep, and what salt does this unit take?

Softener with a filter, or a softener alone

A softener deals with hardness. If the water also tastes of chlorine, smells, or stains orange or black, a filter may be quoted alongside it. The EPA links iron to reddish or orange staining and manganese to black staining. A filter for chlorine taste and odor is covered by NSF/ANSI 42; one for health-related contaminants such as lead by NSF/ANSI 53. The page on water treatment in Omaha sets out which system answers which problem, and the reverse osmosis system in Omaha page covers drinking water at the kitchen sink.

Preparing for the visit

A little preparation makes the first conversation short and the quote accurate. Clear the space around the main shutoff and the floor drain. Have a recent water bill handy so the pro knows your provider. If you have a test result, or the old softener’s make and model, keep them nearby. Make a list of what bothers you about the water: scale, spots, a salty taste, an old unit’s noise.

If you own a home with a private well, mention it in the form. Well water is the owner’s responsibility, as the EPA puts it, and a pro choosing equipment needs to know about bacteria, nitrate, iron and hardness. The water testing page lists the tests the EPA, the CDC and Nebraska’s environmental agency advise for wells.

After the install

A softener needs little attention when it is set correctly. Keep the brine tank supplied with the salt the maker names, look inside it from time to time for a crust of salt that can form a bridge over the water, and follow the maker’s schedule for any service. If hard water comes back, check the salt and the bypass before anything else. Keep the quote, the manual and the settings together in one place, so anyone who services the unit later can see how it was set up.

Questions people ask