When you travel to many places and stay in many different types of RV parks, you’ll find the water quality and hardness varies greatly! A portable water softener is an easy, inexpensive way to protect your RV plumbing and provide you with a consistent water experience.
Why do we have a water softener for our RV?
Our plans are to mostly travel in our RV to various locations and not be parked in a familiar spot for a long time where we might know the water situation. Given that, we felt some extra protection for our plumbing would
Using a water softener in an RV can offer several benefits, especially if you frequently travel to areas with hard water. Here are some reasons why you might want to consider using a water softener in your RV:
Preventing Scale Buildup: Hard water contains high levels of minerals, primarily calcium and magnesium. When you use hard water in your RV’s plumbing system, these minerals can accumulate over time, leading to scale buildup in your pipes, faucets, and appliances. A water softener can help prevent this scale formation by removing these minerals from the water.
Improved Appliance Lifespan: Hard water can be harsh on the appliances you use in your RV, such as the water heater, coffee maker, and washing machine. The minerals in hard water can lead to premature wear and tear, reducing the lifespan of these appliances. A water softener can extend the life of these appliances by reducing mineral buildup.
Efficient Soap and Detergent Use: Hard water can make it challenging to create a lather with soap and detergents, which means you may need to use more of these products to get the desired cleaning effect. Softened water lathers more easily, allowing you to use less soap and detergent, which can save you money and reduce your environmental footprint.
Improved Water Quality: Softened water often tastes better and feels smoother on the skin, as it doesn’t contain the minerals that can make water taste and feel “hard.” This can enhance your overall RVing experience, especially when it comes to drinking, showering, and washing dishes.
Reduced Cleaning Efforts: Cleaning surfaces and fixtures that come into contact with hard water can be challenging due to mineral deposits. Softened water can reduce the need for frequent cleaning and make it easier to maintain a clean RV interior.
Reduced Water Spotting: Hard water can leave unsightly spots on your RV’s windows, mirrors, and other glass surfaces. Using softened water can help minimize or eliminate these water spots.
Minimized Plumbing Maintenance: Over time, hard water can lead to plumbing issues, such as clogs and pipe corrosion. A water softener can help reduce these problems, potentially saving you from costly repairs and maintenance.
Better Laundry Results: If you do laundry in your RV, using softened water can result in cleaner and softer clothes, as it helps detergents work more effectively and reduces the mineral buildup in fabrics.
Keep in mind that water softeners do require maintenance, such as periodically replenishing the salt or resin, so you’ll need to factor this into your RV maintenance routine. Additionally, consider the size and capacity of the water softener to ensure it meets your RV’s water usage needs.
On The Go Water Softener
We purchased the On the Go Water Softener Deluxe model in the first year of our coach ownership.
We have the On The Go Portable Double Standard Water Softener . There is also a smaller, Portable Standard Water Softener available.
Backflushing the Softener
Backflushing a water softener is an important maintenance task that helps to prevent the accumulation of minerals and other contaminants in the unit. This process involves reversing the flow of water through the system to remove any built-up sediment or debris.
To backflush the water softener, use the provided adapter that allows you to reverse the output side of the softener to be the input side.
Next, slowly open the water supply valve and allow the backflush to flow for five to ten minutes.
It is recommended to backflush monthly to help the softener beads be most efficient, and to determine if you need to recharge the softner.
Use test strips to determine the water’s hardness after backflushing.
Recharging the Softener
Recharging the softener is recommended as needed, but generally every 6 months of normal use. For the double version we have that requires 2 – 23 oz containers of iodized or non-iodized salt. You can find these at any grocery store, usually in the baking or spices section.
There are just a few easy steps to complete this task.
- Backflush the system if you haven’t in a while.
- Remove the top and add salt.
- Slowly rinse the system for 20-30 minutes. The water should just barely clear the side of the tank.
- High pressure rinse for 5-7 minutes.
Drain some of the water by tilting unit over or turning it upside down with the head/cap on. Once draining has been completed, flip the unit back upright and tap the black base against the ground a few times to get the resin to fall back down into the bottom of the tank.
Unscrew the top cap and add the salt.
Once you’ve added the correct amount of salt it’s time for a slow rinse.
Replace cap and inlet hose to inlet side of softener. Turn the water on and rinse very slowly for the directed amount of time. Note: Stream of water should just clear the side of the tank/the stream should be the size of a pencil (see picture).
- Rinse for 12-15 minutes for the Standard Model.
- Rinse for 24-30 minutes for the Double Standard Model (as pictured).
Increase water flow to a full stream.
- Rinse for 3-4 minutes for the Standard Model.
- Rinse for 6-8 minutes for the Double Standard Model.
To verify the regeneration process is complete use the hardness test strips to insure the water at the output of the softener is soft. Soft water is 0-3 GPG. At the end of the regeneration process the water should also not have a salty taste.
You are now ready to use your water softener while you travel! We use it every time, even if just filling the tank so that water has run through the softener as well.
I do put a splitter at the RV Park faucet, just after the pressure regulator, so I can use non-softened water for black tank cleanouts. If I am washing the coach, I use the spigot that is hot water and has run through the softener and filtering system. I will put on the On The Go Deionizer for that spot free rinse!
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