Watts PWS15 Series, Installation, Operation And Maintenance Manual

34

Replacing the Media 

NOTICE

Ion exchange resin may need to be replaced periodically 

due to physical breakdown caused by chlorine/chloramine 

disinfectants, or fouling caused by certain metals such as 

iron and manganese.

  1.  Mark the location of the mineral tanks on the floor incase they 

need to be moved once all water, resin and gravel has been 

removed. This will help with realignment of the plumbing after 

media replacement. DO NOT attempt to move a mineral tank 

that contains media and or water.

  2. Open the bypass valve.
  3.  Close the inlet and outlet isolation valves for the mineral tank 

needing media replacement

  4.  Locate “Manually Initiating a Regeneration” on page 17 for 

NXT2 and page 26 for SXT controllers and follow the steps 

to place the system in the backwash position. This relieves 

any pressure inside the mineral tank. Once the system cycles 

into the backwash position, unplug the control valve from the 

power outlet to keep the system in the backwash position. 

  5.  Disconnect the inlet, outlet, and drain union plumbing fittings. 

Then, if necessary for the removal of the control valve from 

the mineral tank, remove the remaining plumbing from the 

inlet, outlet and drain ports of the control valve.

  6.  Disconnect the meter cable from the from the from the meter 

dome and from the NXT2 P5 port or SXT P1 port located on 

the back of the control valve controller. Store the meter cable 

in a safe location.

  7.  Disconnect the brine tubing from the control valve’s brine  

connection port.

  8.  Disconnect the power supply cable from NXT2 P14 port or SXT 

P2PWR port located on the back of the control valve controller.

  9.  If this is an NXT2 multi-tank system that uses the communi-

cation cable ports, disconnect any interconnecting communi-

cation cables from the P1 and P3 ports located on the back 

of the control valve NXT2 controllers.

10.  Remove the control valve from the mineral tank by turning 

the control valve counter-clockwise when viewed from above. 

Keeping a firm grip on the control valve, continue to rotate 

until it can be lifted off of the top of the mineral tank. Store 

the control valve in a safe location.

11.  Note the top of the distributor tube. It must be flush with the 

top of the tank. If it is above the top of the tank by more than 

1/2" the distributor tube may have become disconnected from 

the distributor screen in the bottom of the mineral and must 

be reconnected.

12.  Obtain a length of 3/4" sch. 40 PVC that is the same height 

as the mineral tank and a length of 1" clear braided poly-vinyl 

hose. The hose must be long enough to reach the nearest floor 

drain. (Both of these can be acquired at a local hardware store). 

13.  Insert one end of the pipe inside the hose and the other end 

of the pipe into the top of the mineral tank and down into 

the resin media. Put the other end of the hose inside a water 

permeable bag and locate the bag over the floor drain.

14.  Insert a garden hose into the bag side of the poly-vinyl hose to 

fill the hose and PVC pipe with water. Air will bubble out of the 

tank. Once all the air is out of the hose and pipe, remove the 

garden hose from the polyvinyl hose to establish a siphon. The 

resin can then be siphoned into the bag. Use the garden hose 

to maintain a full water level in the mineral tank to. The bag end 

of the poly-vinyl hose must remain lower in elevation then the 

end of the PVC pipe in the mineral tank to maintain the siphon. 

The bag will retain the resin while the water flows down the 

drain. Use caution not to allow resin to enter the floor drain.

15.  Continue to siphon resin until it is completely evacuated from 

the mineral tank. Gravel will clogged the siphon hose and, if 

it must be removed due to fouling, or to repair or replace a 

damaged distributor tube and screen, must be evacuated by 

other means.

16.  If replacing gravel, inspect lower distributor screens for dam-

age and replace if necessary.

17.  To add new media and reconnect control valve to mineral 

tank follow General Installation steps 3-4K located on page 9 

of this manual.

18.  Reconnect inlet, outlet, and drain plumbing to the control 

valve and tighten the plumbing union fittings on each of these 

plumbing lines.

19.  Reconnect brine tubing to brine connection port of control valve.
20.  Reconnect meter cable to meter dome. Then reconnect the 

other end of the meter cable to the NXT2 P5 port or SXT P1 

port located on the back of the control valve controller.

21.  If this is an NXT2 multi-tank system that uses the communi-

cation cable ports, reconnect any interconnecting communi-

cation cables to the P1 and P3 ports located on the back of 

the control valve NXT2 controllers.

22.  Open the inlet isolation valve slightly, until water can be heard 

flowing through the isolation valve and allow the mineral tank 

to fill with water. Air will come out of the drain line until the 

mineral tank is full of water. Once water flow at the drain line 

is observed, fully open the inlet valve and allow water flow 

to drain for 10 minutes to flush the resin bed of any color. If 

water at the drain shows any discoloration, continue to flush 

the resin bed until water at the drain is clear.

23.  After resin bed flushing is complete, reconnect the power 

supply cable to the NXT2 P14 port or SXT P2PWR port 

located on the back of the control valve controller. Plug the 

system back in to the power outlet so that it will return to the 

service position.

24.  Fully open inlet and outlet isolation valves and close bypass 

valve.

25.  Check for leaks and repair as required.
26.  Open hot and cold side of a treated water faucet to flush any 

air from the plumbing system.

If this is a multi-tank system replace media in each mineral tank 

according to this media replacement procedure.

Bag

Floor 

Drain

1" hose

3/4" PVC 

hose