Description
Hard water leaves chalky buildup on taps, glassware, and heating elements, and shortens the life of anything that heats or cools water. This 10” cartridge uses cation exchange resin to swap out calcium and magnesium for sodium, giving you softer water at the point of use.
Key features
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Cation exchange resin reduces the calcium and magnesium that cause scale and hardness.
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Standard 10” x 2.5” size, fits most standard filter housings
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Cation reduction capacity of 12,915 mg per cartridge
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Regenerate with salt or replace once exhausted
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Best suited to point-of-use systems and small household setups, not whole-house installations
How it works
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This cartridge is built for low-flow use. Keep flow below 2 LPM. Push more water through than that, and the resin channels, which cuts softening performance well before the cartridge is actually exhausted.
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To work out roughly how many litres a cartridge will treat, divide 12,915 by your water’s hardness in mg/L.
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Example: at 150 mg/L hardness, 12,915 ÷ 150 = around 86 litres before the resin needs regenerating or replacing.
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Note that this cartridge doesn’t touch chlorine. If chlorine taste or smell is a concern, run a carbon cartridge alongside it.
Pro tip
Install a carbon cartridge upstream of the softener. It protects the resin, improves taste, and means you’re not choosing between softer water and better-tasting water.
Regenerating the resin is easy: dissolve 120g of salt in 1.2 litres of softened water, soak the media in the brine for 60 minutes, rinse with the remaining softened water, then reload the cartridge and run it for a minute or two before use.
FAQs
Does this add sodium to my water?
Yes, in small amounts. The resin exchanges hardness minerals for sodium, so if you’re on a low-sodium diet or have sensitive taste, it’s worth running a carbon cartridge alongside it or using this for non-drinking applications like your hot water cylinder or washing machine.
How do I know when it needs regenerating or replacing?
The clearest sign is softer water turning noticeably harder again, faster scale buildup, or reduced lather. You can also estimate it in advance: divide 12,915 by your water’s hardness in mg/L to get an approximate number of litres before the resin needs attention.
Can the resin be regenerated more than once?
Yes, salt regeneration can be repeated multiple times before the resin needs full replacement. Performance stays consistent as long as the soak process is followed each time properly, though most households find replacing the cartridge every few regenerations is simpler than tracking cycles.
What happens if I run this on a whole-house or high-flow system?
The resin channels under higher flow, meaning water finds a path of least resistance through the media instead of passing through it evenly. This sharply cuts softening performance, so it’s best kept to point-of-use setups and flow rates under 2 LPM.