Why does a Water Softener Regenerate?

Water Softeners are designed to regenerate at night.

Most water softeners are set so that they regenerate at night. This typically happens between two and four in the morning in hopes that you are not using your water. Your water softener works on a pressurized system.  You do not want to be running water anywhere else in the house when your water softener is regenerating. If you do it will pull water away from going through the softener.

What does it mean for my water softener to regenerate?

Regeneration is when your water softener goes through the process of turning hard water into soft water. Most water softeners go through five cycles during regeneration.
(1) Hard water enters your water softener and then filters down through the ion exchange resin where the ion exchange occurs.
(2) The ion exchange exchanges resin for an equal amount of sodium (salt). In other words, this is where the calcium magnesium is taken off the water.  
(3) After the ion exchange is done a brine solution is dispersed where it flushes the calcium magnesium out.
(4) Then, the softener goes through one final flush to get rid of any traces of calcium magnesium that might be left.
(5) Finally, the water reaches the bottom of the tank where it is softened and ready to use. 

Water softeners make noise when regenerating:

If it sounds like water is flowing through it but isn’t in use, you may have a leak.

If your water softener sounds like it is screeching it might be the timer motor getting stuck and rubbing against itself during the regeneration cycle.

It is important to replace the resin bed every eight to ten years because the resin becomes worn out after so long to where it no longer has the ability to soften your water correctly.