City Started Softening Water? Test Before Changing Your Softener

Measure the water entering your home softener before lowering its hardness setting or bypassing it. Municipal “softened water” does not necessarily mean zero hardness. The right next step is to confirm the utility’s new hardness range, test your incoming water, and adjust your particular softener—not simply stop adding salt.

Lyon Township: allow for the transition

Lyon Township, Michigan, announced that its South Hill plant was planned to start softening in the third week of October 2026, followed by 3–4 weeks of startup and commissioning before softened water reached the full distribution system. Woodwind has supplied softened water since 2023. As of October 26, 2026, that announced timetable is not confirmation that every household has reached its final hardness level. The township says water will be blended during commissioning. Read the September 2026 announcement.

Both plants use Pelle-Flo pellet reactors to remove calcium hardness by crystallizing calcium carbonate into limestone pellets, without sodium chloride. The official township notice describes reduced hardness and scaling potential, but gives no specific final hardness number. It explicitly advises residents to have their home softener set to the proper level. This change concerns the township distribution system; it does not establish a change for a private well or another utility.

Ask the township’s water operator, Highland Treatment, at 248-889-1922:

• Has commissioning finished for the water serving my address?
• What is the current total hardness, and what range should I expect after blending stabilizes?
• Is the result in mg/L as CaCO₃ or grains per gallon (gpg)?

The operator’s contact information is in the official announcement.

Test the inlet, then change the setting

1. Record your model and existing settings. Note hardness, regeneration schedule, and any installer-programmed iron adjustment before changing anything.
2. Sample water before your household softener. Use a confirmed upstream sampling point or unsoftened cold tap. Do not assume an outdoor faucet bypasses the unit. Testing only a softened kitchen tap cannot tell you the hardness entering the resin.
3. Measure total hardness with a hardness test kit. Follow its instructions and repeat during the transition and after the utility confirms stable operation. A TDS meter is not a hardness test; Whirlpool specifically warns that it cannot measure softener performance. Manufacturer testing guidance.
4. Convert units if necessary: hardness in gpg = hardness in mg/L as CaCO₃ ÷ 17.1. For example, 137 mg/L is about 8 gpg. Follow your model’s rounding and compensation instructions. Whirlpool conversion guidance.

Program from incoming hardness, not the low reading after your softener. During blending, do not treat one low inlet reading as the permanent setting; give the expected range and test results to your installer or manufacturer for programming advice.

Whirlpool explains that an unnecessarily high hardness setting causes more recharges and greater salt and water use without making the outlet softer. Its programming guidance also accounts for clear-water iron; other models may require different adjustments. Hardness-setting explanation and programming instructions.

What changes—and whether to keep the softener

Your equipment	Next step
Metered/demand-initiated softener	Update incoming hardness according to the manual; regeneration should reflect the lower hardness load.
Timer-based softener	Review the regeneration interval using new hardness and actual water use. A fixed schedule does not automatically adapt.
Dealer-programmed or unfamiliar controls	Give the technician your model, current settings, and inlet test results. Ask for reprogramming, not an automatic replacement.

Demand regeneration responds to water use; timer regeneration follows a fixed interval. Salt dose also affects usable capacity, so do not arbitrarily halve the salt dose or increase the capacity setting because hardness fell. Fewer cycles and less salt per cycle are different adjustments. Whirlpool’s regeneration and salt-dose explanation.

If the stabilized municipal supply meets your needs without further softening, consider a bypass trial following your unit’s manual. Test the resulting household water and assess scale and washing performance before arranging permanent removal. If you keep the softener operating, continue maintaining its salt supply and required service schedule.

After reprogramming, compare inlet and outlet hardness, including near the end of a service cycle. Our guide to checking whether a softener works explains that comparison. Use those results—not the word “softened” in a municipal announcement—to decide whether your home still needs additional treatment.