Water softener operating questions & answers:

Frequently-asked questions & answers about how to operate a water softener.

In this article series we explain how water softeners and similar water conditioners work, types of water softeners, and the basics of what water softener controls are present and what they do. How water softeners work, methods to remove minerals from home water supply.

FAQs on how Water Softeners Work

Water softeners are used to remove minerals from "hard" water in buildings. Here we answer questions & answers about how to operate a water softener posted originally at HOW WATER SOFTENERS / CONDITIONERS WORK - the home page for this topic.

[Click to enlarge any image or table]

On 2020-02-18 - by (mod) - how much water is used during softener regen / backwash?

Gil

I agree that all of the water used during a regen cycle ultimately goes down the drain.

The brine mix cycles through the resin tank re-charging the resin with salt molecules then is sent down the drain

The rinse and final rinse cycles (removing excess brine) also end up down the drain.

That's pretty much unavoidable in a normal water softener design.

The volume of water used during regen depends on the salt dose and thus the brine volume; harder water and larger resin tank mean larger water volume.

The typical water softener regeneration cycle water volume will be between 60-150 gallons (230 - 550L)

On 2020-02-18 by Gil

Greetings

What is the typical Gal/regen cycle volume? I believe that, for the most part, the regen water goes down the drain.

Thank you

On 2020-02-02 by Anonymous

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried the extra rinse step before and it did not resolve the issue. Now I have to let the water run for a few minutes to get normal water after every recharge.

To add more details, the softener has been in service for over 4 years without any issue before, but it started to have the salty water problem about 4 months ago.
How to check salt dose?

Do I need to add lots of salt into the tank? I have only little salt in it recently(slat level less than 1 currently). I intentionally keep the level low to avoid potential salt bridge.
Thanks.

On 2020-02-02 - by (mod) -

David

It's possible that the salt dose is incorrect, or the final rinse cycle is too short. When I have had this problem with a water softener my solution was to step through the regen Cycles to get to the last final rinse and run an extra final rinse. Try that and let me know if that solves the trouble.

On 2020-02-02 by David

Hi I have a whirlpool water softener.

The water is salty after every regeneration. I have done a lot of research and found no solution to such issue. I tested several manual recharge and made sure no water is used during the process, but still water is salty when it completes.

What could be the cause and how to resolve?
Thanks.

On 2018-09-20 - by (mod) -

Re-Posting

Lynne said:

Is there a water softener that you don't have to use salt? If so, does it work as well?


Lynne,

Thank you for asking a really great question - ultimately I'll post your question and our reply on an appropriate page in our water softener article series.

Take a look at WATER SOFTENER OPERATING CYCLES - how water softeners work

You'll see that true water softening means REMOVING minerals, principally calcium and magnesium from the water supply, using an ion-exchange process that occurs inside the resin tank of the water softener. Removing minerals helps prevent scale formation that clogs pipes and leaves a white smear on dishes and that prevents shampoo from making a nice lather.

Salt-free or "no-salt" softeners (pseudosofteners in my opinion) are appealing because of the no-salt to buy, no maintenance to perform promise.
But let's look at what these products can do - and can't.

There is a variety of products claiming to provide salt free water "softening". Some of these are snake oil - that is they don't really do anything much to the water. I'm thinking of magnets sold to be put on water pipes, for example.

Other no-salt water softeners may use a replaceable filter cartridge and may be just fine for buildings where the water hardness is not great and where the volume of softened water needed is not much. You'll need to clean or replace such cartridges on a schedule depending on water use.

Still other salt-free "water softeners" that do something to the water are nevertheless not removing minerals from the water.

Some of these approaches cause minerals to form crystals that remain in the water supply but that may reduce scale formation. That will reduce scale formation int he building plumbing system but it will not stop it. So in our view, if your water hardness is low enough that this system is adequate, you may not have needed a water softener in the first place.

Watch out: Water softening is not just an aesthetic issue. If your water has significant hardness and you do NOT use a really effective water softener, a real one, the risk is that you clog pipes, clog a water heater or tankless coil, and ultimately face expensive plumbing repairs.

Bottom line, in my OPINION, we can get a clue about what to expect from a "no-salt" or "salt-free" water softener from the observation that calling the product a "water softener" is itself deceptive.

This Q&A were posted originally at WELL CHLORINATION & DISINFECTION

Watch out: what about the health effects of adding salt to the water supply to get rid of calcium and magnesium ? A properly-adjusted water softener puts very little additional salt into the water supply but not zero. People with particular health conditions that require strict avoidance of all salt intake should discuss this question with their doctor.

See WATER SOFTENER SALT SUBSTIUTE: POTASSIUM CHLORIDE

On 2018-07-09 by Nick

We have a duplex softening system also equipped with a carbon and depth filter before entering the softening stage. Our outlet pressure after the softening tank when one unit is regenerating is way lower than normal what could cause this?

On 2018-01-05 - by (mod) -

Yes

On 2018-01-04 by Gwen

when a water softener regenerates, does it eject salt waste water?

On 2017-12-06 - by (mod) -

If you put the softener on bypass and pressure is good then you can indeed suspect that appliance of a blockage.

If that's the case, I'd try running the softener through a backwash cycle.

I'd be surprised if it were an airlock problem as I'd expect any air in the softener itself to be pushed out through faucets when water is next run. More-likely there's debris clogging in the control head or in the softener resin tank.

On 2017-12-06 by Norman

We woke up to find the water coming into the house was off after several hours it came back now the flow to everything the goes through the softener has low pressure the none soft tap has good pressure any tips seemsair locked

On 2017-04-21 by (mod) -

Kat

You should find a (usually plastic about 4 ft tall) salt tank next to your water softener - see the two photos at the top of this article. The Clack Valves Water Softener brine tank (or salt tank) shown in the company's literature is a blue plastic container that's typically 18" in diameter and 36" high.

Here is a link to a PDF file that shows what the brine tank looks-like
https://inspectapedia.com/plumbing/Clack-water-softener-brine-tank.pdf

For other readers, the Clack Water Specialist EE water softener manuals are at https://inspectapedia.com/plumbing/Water_Softener_Manuals.php

Once you've restored salt or salt tablets you should indeed run an extra regen cycle.

On 2017-04-21 by Kat

My salt ran out completely. When I pour more in, is there a re-sart button I need to press, or does i just begin working again on its own? Its a Water Specialist EE. The manual it came with is overwhelming with instructions and unclear.

On 2017-04-21 by (mod) re: Do I need to run an extra regen cycle after filling an empty salt tank or brine tank?

Kat

The water softener will continue working on its own, but it may not run another regen cycle for days - so to avoid hard water running through your home plumbing system you should use an extra regen cycle.

On most Clack control valve water softener heads you will see a separate button, often at lower right, labeled REGEN - just push that once.

You can see that button in the example photo we include here. If you're still stuck, at our WATER CONDITIONER / SOFTENER MANUALS page you'll find contact information for Aqua Purification Systems, the company who produces your water softener.

For readers who don't know where to add salt, you should find a (usually plastic about 4 ft tall) salt tank next to your water softener - see the two photos at the top of this article.

The Clack Valves Water Softener brine tank (or salt tank) shown in the company's literature is a blue plastic container that's typically 18" in diameter and 36" high.

Here is a link to a PDF file that shows what the brine tank looks-like at https://inspectapedia.com/plumbing/Clack-water-softener-brine-tank.pdf

For other readers, the Clack Water Specialist EE water softener manuals are at https://inspectapedia.com/plumbing/Water_Softener_Manuals.php

Once you've restored salt or salt tablets you should indeed run an extra regen cycle.

On 2017-04-21 by Kat

My salt ran out completely. When I pour more in, is there a re-sart button I need to press, or does i just begin working again on its own?

Its a Water Specialist EE. The manual it came with is overwhelming with instructions and unclear.

On 2016-07-28 by (mod) re: is it ok to drain a water softener into the back yard?

Kels

I guess I'd say common but not permitted. Most building codes in most jurisdictions do not permit discharge of any sort of wastewater directly to the ground surface.

Or worse, if the softener is dumping into your septic system it is flooding the system and/or the system is in failure.

On 2016-07-28 by Kels

I've noticed when our softener regenerates water is draining out of our house in the back year. Is this normal??

On 2015-12-23 by (mod) re: should there be water in the brine tank

Jeff

Usually you won't see water in the brine tank unless the salt level is very low.

Perhaps your brine tank may not be fully emptying - a problem caused by improperly adjusted or stuck brine tank float or by a crimp in the tubing between brine tank and water softener and less often by a problem in the softener control head.

On 2015-12-22 by Jeff

Should there be water in the brine tank, except when regnerating, or should brine tank be empty most of the time and fill with water just before regneration?
Mine is full of water all the time, I don't recall this was happening last year but I could be wrong. Do I have a problem? Thx in advance.

On 2015-12-19 by (mod) re: keeping the salt level low to diagnose a water softener regen problem

Good work. Some manual regeneration cycles could be longer than an automatic one but if looking into the salt tank you see no water entering on auto then I suspect a control head problem.

On 2015-12-17 by Lise

Thanks for the reply but I have checked for a salt bridge each time after a few timer regens. It isn't the problem. I tried another timer regen this evening and what I have noticed is that it only took one hour to complete compared to the almost three hour on the manual regen.

I've also noticed that during the timer regen, I didn't noticed the water come into the salt reservoir like I did in the manual regen. I should tell you that I have purposely kept the level of salt low to try and figure out what is going on.

On 2015-12-16 by (mod) re: check for a salt bridge in the brine tank

First,

Let's check for a salt bridge - a crust that forms in the brine tank. The salt bridge can foil you into thinking that the softener is not using salt or into thinking that the salt level is higher than it actually is.

Remove the plastic loud on the brine tank or salt reservoir.

Using ann blunt tool, poke into the top of the salt. If you break through into a cavity below, you've now opened the salt bridge.

If you find no hard crust just salt crystals, there was no salt bridge.

On 2015-12-16 by Lise

I am confused, I have a brand new watersoftener and I'm not sure if it is operating correctly. When regenerating the system manually, the level of salt descends when the cycle is complete. When a regen is done through the systems timer, the salt doesn't seem to go down.

At first I thought that there were two different types of regen cycles but from what I understand so far, there isn't one. Can anyone tell me why the salt doesn't always descend,

On 2015-10-23 by (mod) re: causes of too much water in the brine tank of a water softener

Here are notes from the manual for your water softener

Excessive/high level Valve drain hose pinched,

Any restriction in this drain hose may prevent proper of water in brine tank plugged, elevated too high operation of the nozzle and venturi and reduce or prevent or otherwise restricted brine draw during recharge.

Nozzle and venturi dirty, incorrectly

See the Cleaning the Nozzle and Venturi Assembly section, assembled or damaged page 15. With water pressure to the water softening system off, take the nozzle assembly apart. Inspect, clean and replace as needed. Any foreign particle(s), scratches, nicks, etc., in the passages can prevent operation. Be sure holes in the gasket are centered over holes in the housing

On 2015-10-23 by Tom Wood

I have a GE GXSF40H02 and it is not recharging correctly. I had let the salt level get too low and added two bags of salt and forced a recharge. I knew it would take a day or so for the shower water (where I notice the soft water affect first) in the hot water heater to be recycled, so I let it go. A day or so later, I 6' pry bar fell on the PVC pipe feeding the softener from the supply line and cracked the pipe.

I replaced the PVC and restarted the system. From that point I don't was monitoring the water and it was soft. I forced a recharge and noticed the water in the brine tank was above the salt level, at about the salt level 4 indicator on the black brinewell tube.

Over the past several days I've cleaned the venturi, emptied the brine tank of water and salt (twice). The first time there was a 1" layer of dirty, encrusted salt on the bottom and the second time I made sure I'd cleaned out the bottom of the brinewell also, using hot water.

GE customer service suggested to reload 3 gallons of water and force a recharge, without any salt it in, just to verify that I should only have a couple of inches of water remaining after the recharge. The recharge started to fill, and I forced it to the next step and I continued for a few minutes and stopped.

During the recharges I can see that the drain tube is functioning, either during a slow trickle discharge or during a steady, forceful stream. During one recharge, I disconnected the black 1/4" hose from the bottom of the venturi and water was coming out of the connector on the venturi.

I've verified I can suck water back from the brinewell through the connector (disconnected) at the bottom of the venturi. I do not see any error codes displayed during the recharges I've done nor when I run the diagnostics from the Mode button.
How does the float communicate with the control board to stop filling water?

Any suggestions as to where I should look next?
Thanks
Tom

On 2014-12-30 by (mod) re: life of the resin in a water softener

Singh

Please see details about water softener resin and its life at WATER SOFTENER RESIN REPLACE - at https://inspectapedia.com/plumbing/Water_Softener_Resin_Replacement.php

Resin life is considerable but can be shortened by contaminants or by high frequency water conditioner regen cycles.

On 2014-12-27 by Singh

What is German Resin USE, PURPOSE, LIFE use in water softener

Question: water punp runs during softener regen cycle

(Jan 17, 2013) KT said:

Should the water pump run during the entire regeneration cycle?

Reply:

KT

If the flow rate of the water softener during the regen cycle - really the latter half of the regen cycle when salty brine is being pumpd back through the water softener and out through a drain - is greater than the capacity of your well pump then the pump cannot "get ahead" of the demand for running water and the pump will run continuously.

I would expect that in the case you describe your well pump capacity, or the flow rate of your well itself is limited and that you also see continuous pump operation when you are running a bath tub at the tub spout or are running multiple plumbing fixtures at once.

Question: life of water softener resin

(Feb 17, 2013) Eric said:

Greetings. I have a Culligan Mark 10 system and the Culligan folks came out to inspect what I think is a failing valve. Sure enough they concluded that the valve is failing, but they did their typical sales thing and offered to: replace the valve with modern technology and keep the resin tank in place, re-resin the tank, and flush the brine tank. What is the life of resin?

The Culligan guy said "15-20 years maximum". The system has now been unplugged for 3 weeks while we consider these options - does it take much to just start this back up if I go buy my own valve and install it?

Reply:

Eirc,

If your water softener has been out of service for some time or is old, it would be appropriate to sanitize the unit - see SOFTENER CLEANING & SANITIZING for that procedure.

The life of water softener resins is indeed limited and I agree with your Cullligan representative. But you might want to take a look at

WATER SOFTENER RESINS & CLEANING COMPOUNDS as well.

...

Continue reading  at HOW WATER SOFTENERS / CONDITIONERS WORK or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• DIAGNOSE WATER SOFTENER PROBLEMS
• INSTALLATION of WATER CONDITIONERS
• WATER CONDITIONER / SOFTENER MANUALS
• WATER SOFTENERS & CONDITIONERS - home
• WATER SOFTENER ADJUSTMENT & CONTROLS
• WATER SOFTENER CONTROLS & OPERATION
• WATER SOFTENER CONTROL ADJUSTMENT SETTINGS
• WATER SOFTENER CONTROL BYPASS VALVE
• WATER SOFTENER SALT CHOICES
• WATER SOFTENER SALT DOSE SETTING
• WATER SOFTENER BRINE TANK DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR

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WATER SOFTENER OPERATION FAQs at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS

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