Minimize maintenance, increase the lifespan of your machine, save money, and get even better results. The biggest challenge to Optima Steamer owners is dealing with scale buildup as a result of hard-water minerals in water. The best means of improving your water quality, and Steamericas only recommended solution for preventing is to use a salt-based water softener and we’ve got one that will work great with the Optima Steamer–the Omega. The Omega is powered by typical table salt and will last most operators 1-2 weeks before needing to regenerate. What’s better is that this filter was designed to be installed on the back of your Optima Steamer and to provide a mobile water softening solution that goes where your Optima goes. End the constant battle with scale buildup and get the best performance out of your machine.
Connects via the Direct Water Feed connection. Typical recharge time based on weekly water usage of 25 gallons of water per week.
Is the Omega Portable Softener Kit right for you?
The Omega’s purpose is to fill in the gap between being mobile and having a fixed location with a proper water treatment solution. Anti-scaling additives are only a temporary deterrent and operators still need to perform regular descaling. The only true preventative solution, and the solution recommended by Steamericas, is to use a softener. While a full-sized, commercial-grade softener system is ideal, mobile operators often don’t have a location to treat water or a reservoir large-enough to supply all of the water needed for a job, and the Omega is meant to fill that void.
The Harder Your Water, the More Often the Omega Will Need Recharged.
The Omega Softener contains a cartridge that is recharged by soaking it in common table salt. The cartridge provides a limited amount of softening power—the harder the water, the faster the salt in the cartridge gets consumed. Customers throughout the United States will have a wide range of different hardness of water*, but customers with relatively normal hardness may need to recharge their Omega 3 or 4 times a year. The higher the volume of usage, the more often the cartridge needs to be recharged. The cartridge has a lifespan based on 12 recharges, after that time, it needs to be replaced. Depending on your water’s hardness and the volume of water you use, the Omega may need to be recharged as often as every day, which means cartridges may need to be replaced 3~4 times a month which will add up in cost.
Determining if the Omega Will Work for You
In order to know if the Omega can work for you, you will need to test your water’s hardness. Hardware stores often have tests that will tell you your water’s hardness, usually indicated in GPG, or grains per gallon. Additionally, a TDS meter, which stands for Total Dissolved Solids, can tell you simply the amount of particles in your water in PPM, or parts per million—however, a TDS meter isn’t measuring scale minerals alone. Steamericas recommends purchasing a hardness test kit that uses test strips and provides a reading of hardness in GPG or mg/L. A backup solution is to use a TDS.
Based on your water’s hardness, you can determine how much water you can consume before you will need to recharge. By estimating how quickly you use that much water and that will tell you how frequently you will need to recharge. Keep in mind that a cartridge will only be effective for 12 recharges, and will need replaced after that time. This should help you determine if the Omega is the best solution.
What If Your Water Is Too Hard?
Contact a local water quality specialist who should be able to direct you to an option. Larger, commercial-grade softener solutions will be more capable of softening severe water at a better efficiency and more cost-effective rate. Look into a large, 200+ gallon reservoir to use for mobile solutions and fill the tank with softened water. Also, consider the cost/benefits of filling up your reservoir with filtered drinking water–it might be an alternative until purchasing a softener system is more convenient.
Recharging the Omega Softener Cartridge
The Omega comes with simple instructions for removing the cartridge and soaking it in a salt water brine. The ratio of water to salt is approximately 2.3 gallons water to 4 lbs of table salt (which can easily be purchased in a 4 lb box). Soak the cartridge for 2 hours and replace. A good idea is to purchase replacement cartridges to have charged for quick swapping. The steps to recharge an Omega cartridge can be viewed here: https://goo.gl/IcU7VC
Maximum Pressure Rating
The Omega Water Softener has a max pressure rating of 2 bar (29 psi)
If your water pressure is greater than the max pressure you risk rupturing the screen of the filter which will release resin into the machine that will cause issues and need to be cleaned out. If your water pressure is greater than the max pressure, it can be reduced by simply installing a water pressure reducing valve on your waterline of which there are many different options available.
