Finding rust stains underneath the faucet is a sign you have a lot of hard water coming into your house. Hard water has calcium and mineral deposits that can cause the plumbing in your appliances, like dishwashers and washing machines, to clog up. Hard water can also make your skin become itchy and dry – especially during the winter months when the air is typically drier than it is during the humid months of spring and summer. The best way to combat hard water is by installing a full-house water softener system. Adding the softener to the main water supply will require an understanding a basic plumbing techniques, so if you have no experience be sure to talk with a professional, like Portasoft Of Morris County.

If you have some DIY experience under your belt, here is how to plumb a full-house water softener system to the main water line.

Softener Placement

You should place the water softener between the main water shutoff valve for the house and the spot where the main line branches off into two sections. The one section of pipe carries cold water throughout the house and the other section carries water to the hot water tank.

Connecting the Water Lines

Shut off the water to the house. Use a pipe cutter to remove a section of copper pipe about a foot or so wide. You need to put elbows on the end of the pipe coming in from the outside and the end of the pipe that will carry softened water to the rest of the house. Make sure you clean the freshly cut ends with a pipe cleaning tool to remove any oils and debris that could interfere with the ability of the soldering material to create a good seal when you solder the elbow onto the end of the pipe.

Place tinning flux on the outside of the ends on the pipe and inside the elbows. Tinning flux has a powdered metal alloy in it that helps to create a better seal when you solder the pipes parts together. Slide the elbow over the end of the pipe.

Connect the pipe and elbow together using a torch and a roll of lead-free solder. Solder containing lead can leak into your water supply at the seam and the lead could harm you and your family. Place the tip of the solder on the seam where the elbow and pipe meet and melt it with the torch. Only heat the solder enough to melt it and then move the torch away from the pipe. You don't want to overheat the pipe and cause it to start melting.

Run another section of pipe from the elbow down to the fittings on the water softener. Connect the pipe to the fitting. In some cases, you may have to put another elbow on the bottom of the pipe hanging down from the main water supply line and attach a small pipe to it to reach the fittings on the water softener.

You will repeat this same process to connect pipes to the fitting on the outlet pipe coming from the softener to the main line.