W.E.T.™, Water Efficient Technology, is not a softener. It is a set of controller features WaterCare builds into the CareSoft Elite® and CareSoft Pro® softeners we install, and its one job is to stop a softener from using more salt and rinse water than the resin bed actually needs. If you have a septic drainfield, a district water bill that climbs every summer, or a brine tank you are tired of hauling bags to, this is the feature we point at first.
What W.E.T. does
A conventional softener regenerates the same way every time: a fixed brine draw, a fixed rinse volume, regardless of whether the resin was fully loaded or a third loaded. Metered controllers solved when a softener regenerates. W.E.T. addresses how much it uses when it does. WaterCare rates the feature set at up to 50 percent less salt and water than today's high-efficiency softeners. That is a manufacturer figure, and your number will depend on hardness and use, which is why the controller keeps a running tally you can read on the screen rather than asking you to take anyone's word for it.
Why it matters on Hill Country water
Hardness in the Lake Travis districts that skip lime softening sits near 11 grains per gallon, and the Trinity and Ellenburger wells beyond the lake can run two or three times that. A family on that water regenerates often, and every regeneration sends brine down the drain, which on most Spicewood lots means into a septic system. Texas has required demand-initiated regeneration on septic since 2003; using less brine per cycle is the natural next step. Rinse water counts too in a region where Lake Travis hit a record low in 2023 and Bee Cave and Dripping Springs were under Stage 3 restrictions this summer. Water is worth conserving here, and a softener is one of the few appliances that can be told to.
The features, one by one
Proportional brining. The salt drawn during regeneration is scaled to the amount of water treated since the last cycle. Less water processed means less resin exhausted, which means less salt needed to restore it.
Proportional rinse. The rinse cycles are trimmed on the same logic, adjusted to how much of the resin bed was used up rather than running a full fixed volume every time.
Scheduled full regeneration. Repeated partial cycles could let the bed fatigue over time, so W.E.T. periodically assigns a complete regeneration that refreshes the whole tank and keeps performance where it should be.
Real-time salt sensing. The system measures the salt level as it goes. When it drops too low, an audible and visual alert on the controller tells you the brine tank needs filling, so you are not finding out from spotted glasses.
Savings History Screen. The softener displays how many pounds of salt and how many gallons of water it has saved, compared to a conventional high-efficiency cycle, since the W.E.T. features were switched on.
Which softeners carry it
W.E.T. is available on the CareSoft Elite® and CareSoft Pro®, including the Elite RC and Pro RC split-tank versions. The CareSoft Series page lays out the four configurations and how we choose between them; W.E.T. is a setting inside those units, not a separate box on the wall.
How we set it up
W.E.T. is only as good as the numbers programmed into it, so it starts where every job of ours starts: testing the water at the house. The hardness reading goes into the controller along with the household's size and use pattern, the reserve is set, and the proportional features are activated at install. The softener itself, capacity, flow rate, tie-in at the loop or the main, and the Texas and Austin rules it must meet, is covered on the water softener service page. After a few weeks we want to know two things: that the far taps still test soft, and what the savings screen reads. If the first is true, the second is real.
Get an estimate
If you are on a hard district supply or a septic lot and would like a softener that spends less on every cycle, request a free estimate or call (512) 587-8188 during weekday business hours, 8am to 5pm. We will test the water, price the CareSoft that suits it, and tell you honestly whether W.E.T. belongs on it.