This is a diagram of how a water softener works and how it makes your water softer. This is just like a filter such as Brita, which makes your water clean. The calcium and magnesium is what makes your water hard. When you put the softener in the calcium gets attracted to the -coo. They are attracted to this because calcium is positive and it is attracted to the opposite, a negative charge. Once the calcium is out of the way the sodium can go through. The calcium stays in the little beads and your water becomes softer. This is also why you have to keep putting in water softener because the beads wear off after a while.------>