Frequently Asked Water Treatment Questions

In general, you should change the sediment, pre and post carbon filters in your reverse osmosis system once per year. The membrane should be changed every 3-5 years. You can bring a water sample from the regular faucet and the reverse osmosis faucet into Watermaker to be tested for free. This will determine if the membrane needs to be done or can last another year.

When the salt in your water tank solidifies, you can clean out all the old salt and water from the tank. Pour some warm (but not hot) water over the salt to help loosen it up. Wait a few minutes and then use something solid to break up the salt (e.g. broom handle, hockey stick etc), taking care not to damage the salt tank or brine well. Scoop out all the loose salt. Repeat this process until all the salt and water is gone. A wet/dry vac could also be very helpful in this process.

Refill the tank with the amount of water that was previously in (usually 2-3 inches for Ecowater brand, 10-12 for all other brands), refill with salt (no more than ½ way), wait 2 hours, then begin a manual regeneration.

A. Most water in North America contains hardness (calcium, magnesium).

B. If you are on town water, you will have chlorine or chloramines in your water. This can be removed to avoid the negative effects of these compounds.

C. If you are on a private well, there are many things you can look out for. Please see FAQ #3 for more details

Yes! We can test in store for hardness, iron, and total dissolved solids amount. For bacteria testing, please see your local Public Health unit. They have special bottles and instructions and will test for free. For more in depth analysis, we recommend using an accredited lab which can test for a vast variety of things. This is a paid service. Watermaker can facilitate this testing for you for an additional fee.

A. WATER: Water levels are automatically refilled with the correct amount by the water softener. For Ecowater units, the water should be 2-3 inches. For all other brands, this should be 10-12 inches.

B. SALT: Salt levels should never exceed ½ of the salt tank. If there are only 1 or 2 people in the home, salt should not exceed ½ of the salt tank.

A. 99.8% pure pellet. This is the salt we most recommend. There are no added ingredients (chemicals, glues, binders, etc), dirt or any other additives.

B. Rock salt. This is a natural good salt with no additives. However, there is a small amount of dirt in this type of salt. If you are using this exclusively, we recommend you let the salt run low and clean out any dirt built up in the salt tank every 1-2 years.

C. Iron removing salt. This begins as the pure salt, with one additive to help clean iron out of the water softener that can build up over time.

D. Potassium salt. This is a potassium base, rather than a sodium base. This is designed for people who need to watch their sodium intake very closely. It does cost approx. 4-5x more than regular salt.

If you would like to see our selection of salt types, click here

A. If you are using pure salt, you shouldn’t need to clean out the salt tank, unless you get a salt bridge (FAQ #2).

B. If you are using a rock salt, we recommend cleaning it out every 1-2 years.

In short, reverse osmosis is a method of purifying drinking water with filters and membrane. The purity depends on the source water as reverse osmosis will remove 90- 99% of total dissolved solids. It will also remove chemicals such as chlorine, herbicides and pesticides, etc. 

Do you have a question about reverse osmosis systems that aren’t on this frequently asked questions page? If so, Click here

Yes you can! Water coolers can be rented through the delivery department at Watermaker.

They can be reached at 519-941-3725 ext 3 or sales@watermaker.ca

Want to know about water coolers that isn’t on this frequently asked questions page? Click here

UV bulbs need to be replaced every year. Sleeves need to be done every 2 years. Many UV systems have a countdown on the power supply to let you know when to change the bulb. All systems will alarm when it is time to change the bulb, usually a few weeks before the full year.

If you have a reset button, you can silence the alarm for 7 days up to 3 times before the alarm won’t be able to silenced anymore until the bulb is changed and properly reset. Additionally, you could get an error (e.g. A3) where a bulb might need to be changed early due to some malfunction.

A. Red caps are reverse osmosis
B. Blue caps are spring
C. Green caps are distilled

Watermaker can take back and recycle any bottle. To be able to receive the deposit money, several requirements must be met:

1.  A Watermaker labelled water bottle.
2.  A water bottle in reusable condition (not broken, not full of mold/algae, etc)
3.  A bottle with a handle
4.  A water bottle that is not a screw cap style.

Yes! The delivery department at Watermaker can deliver your salt right down into the basement to the softener and can also refill the salt tank for you.