Laundry treatment appliance with water softening system

A method for operating a laundry treatment appliance, the laundry treatment appliance comprising:

• a water supply unit configured to supply fresh water to the laundry treatment appliance;
• a laundry treatment chamber adapted to receive laundry to be treated;
• a water softening system configured to receive fresh water from the water supply unit and to generate soft water from the received fresh water;
• a process liquid delivery system fluidly connected to said water supply unit, to said water softening system, and fluidly connected to one or both of a steam generator to be supplied into the laundry treatment chamber, and a treatment agent delivery system configured to store a water-soluble pod containing one or more laundry treatment agents;
• wherein the process liquid delivery system is configured to supply process liquid comprising fresh water supplied by the water supply unit or soft water generated by the water softening system into the laundry treatment chamber;
• wherein the laundry treatment appliance is configured to perform at least one among a set of treatment cycles selectable by a user, said set of treatment cycles comprising at least one of:
• a first treatment cycle in which said process liquid supplied by said process liquid delivery system further comprises said one or more laundry treatment agents contained in said water-soluble pod, and a second treatment cycle in which the steam generator is activated for supplying steam into the laundry treatment chamber using water supplied by the process liquid delivery system;
• wherein the method comprises:
• selecting a treatment cycle to be performed by the laundry treatment appliance;
• and
• performing the selected treatment cycle by activating the water softening system so as to provide the process liquid delivery system with soft water if said selected treatment cycle is a treatment cycle of said set of treatment cycles.