Brining, What Is It? (Water Softeners)

Brining is part of the "regeneration" process for a water softener.  Regeneration is needed because your water softener can only remove a specific amount of hardness, iron, manganese, radium, and several other minerals.  The process removes the undesired minerals from the softener and replaces them with sodium.

A water softener uses a media called softening resin, which consists of thousands of tiny polystyrene (non expanded) beads that are created to hold on to certain ions of minerals.  When the water softener is new, it is filled with fresh resin which has been pre-charged with sodium ions.  The water softener is the tank portion of the system, where the controller is attached (on top).  The brine vat is the portion next to the softener where you add salt, and is NOT the softener.  A water softener does not pump salt in the water to be distributed throughout the home, the water softener only uses the salt to clean and regenerate, and the only portion of the salt that gets into the water is the sodium portion.  The chloride portion is rinsed away with the undesired mineral ions.

Depending on the brand and model of your water softener, some water is put into the brine vat during either the beginning of the cycle or the end of the cycle.  The water dissolves some of the salt in the brine vat and creates a brine solution of approximately 35% salt.  With the use of a venturi (common) or brine pump (common with industrial applications), the salt is brought into the softener and through the resin.  The sodium ions overpower the undesired minerals and knock them into the waste stream and out of the softener.  The softener will rinse excess salt and all the chloride out into the waste stream and the water softener is now recharged.

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