If you live in an area where the municipal water supply contains trace minerals, then this hard water could be wreaking havoc in your home. Hard water not only causes water spots to appear on your shower door, tile, and dishes, but it can also dry out your skin and hair as well. Installing a water softener is a simple and effective way to eliminate hard water inside your home.

Here are three tips that you can use to ensure your water softener is maintained properly in the future:

1. Check salt levels regularly.

Modern water softeners rely on a supply of salt to help eliminate hard water from your home. It's important that your water softener has access to the right amount of salt, otherwise, it cannot effectively treat your hard water supply.

Check salt levels in your water softener on a regular basis and add more salt as needed to ensure the salt supply stays within the manufacturer's recommended specifications.

2. Use the right kind of salt.

In addition to ensuring that your water softener has enough salt to effectively treat your home's hard water supply, you must also use caution to ensure you are adding the right kind of salt to the softener.

The specialized salt utilized within water softeners can be found in granular, pellet, or block variety. Each of these delivery methods works a little differently, and your water softener is designed to interact with one specific type of salt. Be sure to consult your owner's manual to determine which type of salt you should be adding to your water softener in the future.

3. Exercise your water softener's valves.

There are a number of valves that help to regulate the flow of water between your home's plumbing system and your water softener. To prevent these valves from malfunctioning in the future, it's important that you take the time to exercise them regularly.

Exercising your valves simply means that you twist the valves into the off position and then turn them back on again. This process helps to eliminate any buildup that could damage the valves and ensures that they remain functional well into the future.

Maintaining your home's water softener doesn't have to be difficult. By checking salt levels regularly, adding the right kind of salt to your softener, and exercising the softener's valves often, you can effectively rely on a water softener to eliminate hard water from your home.