water softener drain

I recently purchased a used water softener for my house to put where an existing one is. The problem is is the one that is in there now has not been in use since I bought
the house and is correctly hooked up for inlet and outlet lines but there is no drain for it. What do I do there is no drain near this site? Can i run a line in to my existing
toilet drain that is up higher (this is in a basement), or can I use a pump like on my furnace, or do I have to make a new drain? Also does a water softener take out lime?

 

There must be a drain somewhere if there was a softener there already. Possibly floor drain, sump pump, standpipe with a trap in another room. It may have run upstairs to a laundry tub. Do NOT run the drain in to the toilet drain. All softeners need a proper "AIR GAP" to prevent waste from backing up and possibly contaminating the system. Look in the ceiling around the basement to see if there may be a standpipe with a trap for the softener. Yes softeners take out calcium, lime magnesium (hardness minerals) and some ferrous (dissolved) iron.
RJ