Catalytic conditioners actually bring electrons up from the earth to supply the deficient calcium bi-carbonate ion. This technology is superior because the units actually add electrons to the water from an outside source, something the other technologies don't. Conditioned water has very similar characteristic as salt based softened water, except for the slick, slimy feel. The conditioned water will require approximately half of the soap, shampoo, dishwashing detergent and washing machine detergent as the untreated water. The grain capacity on a water softener denotes how many grains of calcium bi-carbonate and iron a water softener can absorb before it needs to be regenerated again.
Grains are a small measure of weight.
So suppose you have a 30,000 grain water softener. A 5 pound salt setting is satisfactory for hardness 5 grains to 39 grains. An 8 pound salt setting is satisfactory for hardness 40 grains to 100 grains. A 12 pound salt setting is satisfactory for hardness over 100 grains. Timer controlled systems have the advantage of being simple.