What Is A Water Softener Loop? How Much Should It Cost?
A water softener loop is a pre-installed pipe that can be used to install water softeners. It provides a dedicated place for a water softener. It has 3 things—access to the water main, a drain for the backwash and a power outlet.
A lot of builders offer the option of pre-plumbing a water softener loop to make the future setup of water softener easy. It is necessary for a water softener, but it does make installing one a lot easier.
What Is A Water Softener Loop Used For?
If you find yourself wondering ‘What is a water softener loop?’, it is pretty easy to identify. Water softener loops are easy to identify. If you see an extra copper pipe on a wall near your water heater, it is probably the water softener loop.
The copper pipe of a water softener loop is capped at the end, indicating that it is an active water line.
Water softener loops regenerate the pipes in your water system with soft water. When they don’t get used, the pipes of your water system can accumulate particles.
A water softener loop keeps water flowing and flushes out the settled water with fresh, soft water. It also improves the overall quality of water.
Installing A Water Softener Loop
Installing a water softener loop is easy, unless you have a very large house. To find out where the water softener loop should be installed, you need to find the end of the water system in your house. Every water distribution system has a beginning and an end.
If you have a concrete slab home, the water line is probably in the attic or ceiling. The attic is convenient as you get a customizable space for improvements or modifications.
If not, the water line should be in the crawl space of the house. The starting and end of the water line are easily identifiable in the crawl space.
Next, you need to fit a pipe that connects back to the water heater. It is usually placed in an area that has space for a water softener, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Benefits Of A Water Softener Loop
A water softener loop keeps the water line separated from your house’s internal piping. Since outdoor water usage like watering plants does not need soft water, this is an ideal situation.
The external piping is also easier to fix and less expensive. There aren’t any expensive appliances outside the house that will be damaged by hard water, so it works out well either way.
Parting Thoughts
Water softeners turn hard water into soft water. A water softener loop is a pre-plumbed pipe that connects your water softener to the home’s internal water pipes.
This makes installing a water softener really easy. It also saves water since you don’t need to use soft water outdoors. It doesn’t need regeneration and thus no water is wasted as backwash.
It separates your home’s indoor and outdoor water systems. You don’t need soft water for activities like watering your garden. In fact, plants require the minerals present in hard water.
Thus, having a water softener loop can be beneficial to your home’s water system. If you were wondering, ‘What is a water softener loop?’, now you know!