This guide provides tips on how to maintain a water softener, including regular salt refills, regeneration, and cleaning. It also discusses the importance of preventing salt bridging, mushing, and oversized or oversized salt bridges. The guide also covers cleaning the resin bed and breaking up salt bridges.
Water softeners are generally low maintenance, but to ensure optimal performance, it is essential to follow a maintenance guide. This guide covers essential steps such as checking salt levels, cleaning the brine tank, and breaking up salt bridges. The best type of salt to use depends on the specific needs of your water softener.
To clean the brine tank, remove and clean the salt plate in cold water with dish detergent using a long-handled brush or power washer. Then, unscrew the valve cover and remove the internal parts, giving them a good cleaning in soapy water. A water softener maintenance checklist is provided to keep the system functioning properly for many years.
Replacing seals and spacers that show signs of wear prevents leaks and maintains the system’s structural integrity. Regularly checking salt levels, flushing the tank with a cleaner, and cleaning the tank are essential steps to maintain the water softener’s functionality.
There are two primary methods for cleaning the resin tank: manual cleaning or using an iron-removing solution and rinse. Regular salt refills are required, usually every two to four months, depending on the schedule.
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Great article. Out of desperation I tried the iron out. The water softener had been turning the water grey-brown, and when the water softener was bypassed, the discoloration went away. This proved the discoloration was due to the softener. The softener was put on bypass for the past 6 months to stop discoloration. Then I saw your article and tried one treatment of the Iron Out. IT WORKED!
I work on softener systems. I do not recommend sending it into a Regen in the middle of the day like this article. Reason is other water devices will be in use and depending on your unit it could take 2 hours to completely Regen. The Regen process needs the best water pressure you can give it so doing it when you’re headed to bed and not using other things is the best time.
This is probably the most informative article I’ve ever seen on YouTube. I’ve searched the internet endlessly just out of curiosity because I wanted to know how exactly does it make the water soft. (I never did get an answer) But you explained it perfectly!! And now that I’ve let my salt run out a couple times over the years, I understand what I should do to cleanse the pellets. Thank you so much for posting this!!!!
I bought a water softer from home Depot. they installed it and gave to tips or information on how to maintain it. this was about 15 years ago and tried to charger over $4,000 for the unit. I will never buy one from the again. now I’m going to try this to see if I can get it worked ng again. has not worked In 2 years, just sitting there unplugged and filled with salt. great article. thanks so much. hope it works.
We recently moved into a house in which the water softener system had been neglected. The well water was practically off the charts ‘hard’ and it did not appear as if any salt had been added in months… even though the prior owners lived there up until the day before we moved in. The company that installed the system came out and added some salt and did a regen and nothing else. After very little improvement I found this article. After performing two of the Iron Out treatments described in this article, our system is working perfectly! Thank you for this awesome tip!
I highly recommend Solar Salt if it’s available in your area. Salt pellets can contain a binding agent to help keep the pellet shape. That binding agent can degrade the performance of the softener and resin tank quicker too. Solar salt is mostly flakes and more “natural” and better long term in the unit. I have been using for 15+ years on well water and have had no issues.
Been using this for years. Notice my water pressure wasn’t what I thought it should be so I put this iron out directly in the brine cavity.night and day difference. Tried raising pressure on the water pressure switch different water tanks cleaned all the fixtures nothing worked.took me awhile to realize resin beds can Rob water pressure when dirty.i figured the regeneration took care of that.now I use it regularly. Good stuff
We moved into a house that had had an older whirlpool softener in it and our water was bad. The house had also sat dormant for about 6 months before we moved in. I did this with the whirlpool stuff. Did back to back recharges and the water flowed a glowing orange for a good minute after before it ran clear. This is definitely a necessity.
did this to two Kinetico used systems we purchased and it has thoroughly cleaned both. We live in an RV and purchased a used small system very suitable for RV life. It works great, the only issue is when it regens you get unsoftened water. We then picked up a dual tank setup that regens one tank and runs through the other, this always provides softened water which for an RV is much better. I dosed the second unit with a high concentration of Iron out and it has got it tip top to where we have fully softened water all the time now. THANKS FOR THIS article.
Thank you. My local hardware store didn’t have Iron Out, but I found something similar. Took me 5min to prepare then started a recharge. It made a huge difference (i have hardness test strips, but you can easily feel the difference). I never knew about this. So glad i stumbled upon your article because i was just about ready to buy a new softener unit.
Great, informative article. We have inherited the need to maintain my in-laws softener. My Mother-in-law recently passed away and she was the one who knew what was going on with the system maintenance. When I checked the tank, there was almost no salt. I’m not sure how bad the softener is / was. Once I got the salt filled up, I ran the regenerate cycle with the Iron out. I’m amazed at how well the iron-out works. I put some in the bathroom sinks that had very bad rust stains. It cleaned them to a like new condition. There is a smell from the water, so I may run the process again.
Amazing!!! We had a power outage and the tanks were emptied by accident. Once power was restored I noticed the water was not soft and smelled of iron. I did a manual regen and the problem got worse. Turned out the Iron removal tank drain plugged itself with iron, and the backwash of iron ended up in the softener. I used the Iron Out as you recommended and the water is starting to turn clear again. Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!! UPDATE 11-2021: I ended having to replace both my iron removal tank as well as my softener. The Iron Out did work for a little while but the system was too far gone to recover.
Holy Guacamole! I’ve watched and enjoyed a lot of your articles and really appreciate the time and effort you put into them. But this one has really saved me!!! Our old (circa 2007) softener has mostly been reliable but due to my negligence and lack of any maintenance I ran into a problem and thought I’d have to bite the bullet and replace it. Overall the softener has been marginal but due to my own negligence I let the salt run out so you can guess the results… Anyway I watched the article thought what the hell and picked up some Iron Out. After following your instructions I did notice a chemical odor and funny taste from the water so I ran a 2nd backwash. Since I’d never done anything but add salt over the last 15 years It took about 2-3 days for the odor and taste to disappear but more importantly the results really shocked me. The water didn’t instantly turn soft but during the course of about 4-5 days it kept getting better. It’s now at the point where I honestly believe it’s as good as new! Many thanks for sharing this!
My water is so hard and with iron you can walk on it! I use Iron Out twice monthly and works wonders in managing iron and also preventing costly repairs. Prior to my using Iron Out, I would have a break down of the plunger system about every 18-24 months, costing $200 repairs each time! I have been using Iron out for over 3 yrs and no breakdown yet! Water is much better quality also! I love Iron Out! Works great on iron stains of toilets too!
I have the same GE softener shown here, mine is 6 years old and no where near that clean. I have red stains all over the resin tank and floating in the brine tank. I hope all I have to fix is to clean out the tank ( I had a nasty salt bridge ) and start using Iron out. The water in the tank looks pretty gross, has sediment. I think the salt bridge has been preventing a proper re-cycle. Thanks for the article. Hope this helps!
It is good to get the information out as people leave these units unattended mostly. I think it would have been important for you to point out the cleaning of the actual mechanism with its little Jets and screens as they get quite cloged up. Also I was told it’s not a good idea to fill the reservoir to the top with salt as it will increase the likelihood of salt bridge and you won’t even be able to see that has occurred. I never put more than two bags at once of salt. Good job
I have a 50 year old Artesian Water Conditioner 60,000 grain now on city water and only regenerate it every 6 months. I live alone and don’t use a lot of water. Water is real soft. Used Iron out through the 42 years on well water. Not much trouble with unit. Replaced control valve, brine tank parts and the timer motor. Still running strong. Only has 12 day skipper wheel but I keep power off until I regenerate it manually. Cannot get timer parts anymore so I keep power off. Control valve parts and brine parts are available on a service call. Can run thousands of gallons before I need to regenerate it. I use pellet salt and add iron out occasionally. Unit and salt tank all fiberglass.
I’m so very sorry I forgot to get back to you, yes I used this product and it worked great, as a matter of fact It work so good, that I bought 6 containers of it, using all the time, not only for my softener, works great on rusty auto parts, takes the rust off better than any other product I used before…I give it 5 stars * again Thank You.
This confirms that our phones are listening. I was talking with my wife the other day and said “hey babe, a light is blinking on our water softener and when I looked inside, the salt pellets are down to the 1 mark”… I forgot to do research online on what to do with it, how much it needs, etc. (purchased home with it)..And voila! A recommended youtube article! 😃 I mean, I am happy for the reminder, but damn, kinda creepy.
He is so right. I placed a new water filter prior to my softener and the filtration was to high which caused the flow of hard water to be slowed and it limited the ability to make brine. My beebees looked like the ones on your vid. You can buy and replace your old beebees pretty easily if they are seriously contaminated. After that use the iron out regularly.
I would like to add one comment about the salt bags. they have a nice easy tear line that usually works. Do not leave it attached to the bag. Remove it. While doing maintenance to my softener several years ago, I let my softener go to the bottom. I removed a bunch of the salt in the bottom. while cleaning it out I came a across several of those bag corners that the had fallen in while filling. For those with Super Duper hard water like I do, white vinegar is your friend for cleaning the valves, filters and what not.
I have a 12 year old Culligan system that was completely malfunctioning. Had gotten estimates and was close to dropping about 3k on a new system. After perusal your article and following your instructions, I flushed my system with iron out and it works like new all over again. Amazing, can’t thank you enough, give it a try people this stuff really gets the job done. Thank You so much!!!
Amazing! After just one Iron Out treatment, water flow thru the softener has increased dramatically. Our washer has a feature where it errors out if there is insufficient flow. Before, we could not get thru a cycle without it stopping. I watched the flow after the first treatment and it looked like Niagara Falls. We were very close to replacing the unit with a new one. You saved us considerable dollars. Thank you very much!!
I have city water & noticed my water didn’t feel as soft s as it used too. My unit was only 5 years old. I did this & I could tell a huge difference in the way my water feels. My question is… if I buy salt with iron out, will this do the same thing & keep me from having to do this? Thanks. It really worked for me!!
I’ve used Rust Off for years in the toilet to clean tge toilet. I have a serious rust problem. The product works perfectly. It’s caustic so don’t breath in the dust from it. I eliminated my heavy rust problem now by putting in place first a neutralizer unit, then, second, the water goes through the water softener and then thru an iron filter. My water is perfect for the first time in 8 years.
It’s amazing how so many people don’t know what and how things should get regular maintenance when owning a home. Specially first time owners. Along with bringing back home ec in schools they should add a week or 2 of being a first time home owner and basic car maintenance. Where and when to change air filters for heat and air, checkup on HVAC units, the need for water heater flushing, when to open or close crawl space vents or which way to flip the switch on a ceiling fan for summer or winter, how long shingles actually last. Where the fluids go in a car, how to change a tire, and the need for regular oil changes and tire rotation. Sure not all things will apply to everyone but a brief explanation of these are the things that will need maintenance and when they should be done; either by you or have them done. Wish I had basic info before problems came up to actually know ALL these things were even needed.
Wow. A plumbing-related DIY tutorial by someone who actually seems to understand what they’re talking about, and explains it in an understandable way. I’m impressed! One note though: Be careful when mixing the iron out. Those fumes are pretty hard on a person. It’s best to mix it outdoors, and limit your exposure in poorly ventilated areas.
I did the way you have shown us twice and cause the water softener resin leak out to the water line twice. By examined the root cause, I found the water softener resin became something like dirt & no damage to the resin filter net or other parts. By replaced 1 Cu new resin the problem went alway. By the way, my water softener is GE model GXSH40V two years old & I try to clean it every year & both damaged the resin. I had been very careful follow the instruction. I am not sure what went wrong but I am not going to do it again, too much trouble cleaning all faucets in my house & replace the resin. too much work!
Amazing and simple explanation. I finally understand how the softener actually works. My softener isn’t working and I suspect it’s because there was a salt bridge that was never cleared for quite some time. This article is essentially confirming my suspicions. I cleaned out the brine tank and filled it with fresh salt, but it still doesn’t seem to be working. Going to give iron out a try tomorrow and report back.
Pro tip, don’t use salt pellets, especially if you stack your salt tank full. It’s much more apt to melt and bridge. Use water softner salt that is crystallized only. Also don’t use the salt with Iron additive, if you’ve got a lot of iron in your water, do the iron out like in this article twice a year!
Awesome article! I’m going to give this a shot. I had a water technician come out trying to sell me a $3000 machine. I have the exact same Water Softener machine as you in the article. I really hope this will work so I don’t have to spend that kind of money on a new one. Question about programming/operating the machine. What level do you recommend I set the Hardness Level on? Thank you!
Over a week ago I completely cleaned out my junky old contaminated softener. Long story short, there was a clog in a drain pipe which caused dirty soapy water from my washing machine to back up into the softener itself. I got out as much of the gross water as possible with a cup, then got the rest out with a wet/dry shop vac. I then scooped out the remaining salt, and a layer dirty salt sludge on the bottom that I didn’t even know was there. I hosed it out many times over until the water ran clear, then I filled the brine tank about halfway up with water, then added a little bit of dish soap and a little bleach and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then drained it out, hosed it out repeatedly until there were no more soap bubbles. I then reconnected everything, put it back in “service” mode and ran two regeneration cycles. Then added about 40 lbs of salt, did a 3rd regeneration cycle and hoped for the best. Seemed to work good after that, so couple days later I added 80 more lbs of salt. My softener now works better than it ever has, like it’s brand new. It didn’t even work this good when we moved into this house. I still can’t believe it. I was doubting my process would even work, as I’ll admit that I had no idea what I was doing. I guess I got lucky!
Great article except for one important thing: Please add a section on the function of the Venturi and how it functions. If the Venturi gets a particle of dirt, it can block the siphoning of the salt solution into into the Resin tank to clean off the resin beads. Pictures of the Venturi construction are important to show how to properly put back together properly. My experience is that all water softeners use the same design. Some of the parts are very small and need to be replaced with the correct orientation for good siphoning. Thanks
This is great information to get out there. Very practical, helpful, and money saving. You can also just sprinkle about a third of a cup on top of the salt when it’s getting down to about the 2 mark (a few days before you’re going to put in more salt and you know it’s going to recharge soon). This was advised for us by a water analyst. The Iron Out powder has something similar on the instructions for maintenance. I do this every 3-4 months.. depends on your water’s iron and your usage.
We are getting a C series installed tomorrow and this business has been around since 1955 and is a family own company and they told us today to never use any chemicals as they are poisonous. If you like to do it right talk to someone that actually no their stuff. Found out today that many water softeners don’t do the job buy makeing your water softer and the one we have now till tomorrow turns out was not even coming close to doing its job aways great to no lol. You also need at lease a 3/4 inch line for backwash or your system won’t get the job done. It’s nice when company’s do their jobs and make sure they’re customers are satisfied. So many out their do a terrible job and most of us would not think anything about it. Do not add any chemicals unless told others as you do drink the water and it can take 3 backwash to fully clean that stuff out.
So GLAD I played this article! I would not have known to add the product to the brine well. A few questions: I use two salt delivery companies (in case I can’t be home for a delivery.) One has a product with iron out already in it. Does that reduce the need to run a cleaning cycle? I never let the salt run out, and, when I leave on vacation, I shut off the main water valve, and the automatic regenerate on the softener. We sometimes have line breaks and water system flushing in my neighborhood, and I don’t want water coming in during those times. I told the deliverymen to not put the salt into the tank. I’m letting it run (almost) dry before I run a cycle. I don’t know if I need to do this, especially if I add the product to the brine well? Related question: the salt is down to about 10″ high, but doesn’t seem to be going down anymore. Is this normal? I will look up the ingredients in Iron Out. I have an old container of water softener cleaner with Hyposulfite. Is citric acid better?? The most important issue(!): There are mineral deposits around my faucets and spigots. I can’t even get a hose over the water heater to flush it. I will clean the threads with vinegar. I had a new piston put in a year or two ago. Does this mean the resin (or something else) has gone BAD?? Thanks again for this informative lecture.
Wow!!! I needed this article almost 4 months ago. The salt in my tank is gone. Just plain water collects now. Which I constantly have to dump. I use the water on plants so nothing goes to waste. I think my resin is in need of replacement. My Rain water softener is 18yrs old 🙈 I’ll give this product a try. Do you suggest I replace a portion of the salt first. Thank you!!!
The salt brine leaves the resin in pos.+ It’s the backwash that prepares the resin for this. Resin won’t accept it otherwise. Service is required for a variety of reasons, one being an increase in hardness in the raw water( rural may fluctuate) There are :4 types of iron, the iron out is no magic bullet, it is an oxygen scavenger, iron nemesis. Chlorine (high ppm) may turn the resin to mush, causing a pressure drop in municipal supplies. So lots of issues that may initiate a service call. Culligan Man 42 yrs.
We have high iron in our water and have to use salt with the iron out in it. If we don’t you know it right away by the stains in the sink. Every once and awhile I’ll add straight iron out to the salt. What sucks is if the softener run out of salt, it seems to take a few regens to get it back working right. Our softener is 12 years old and is metered.
Filling the brine tank with pellet salt is a bad idea. Pellet salt has adhesive mixed with it to make a pellet. Salt does not come out of the ground in this form. When you fill your BT with 200-300 lbs of salt the weight in the BT compresses the salt below into a hard bridge. This causes several problems, the most of which is you won’t get a good brine mixture because you have a massive compressed ball of salt or a bridge holding the salt above the water so you get no brine solution at all. Also the adhesive in pellet salt collects in the bottom of the BT and you will eventually have a thick layer of goo that will harden the salt above it. I have been in this business for over 26 years, and I’m telling you pellet salt is no bueno. Go with coarse or crystal salt it has more dirt in it, but is natural and won’t cause the problems of pellets.
My 40,000 grain Whirlpool water softener had completely stopped working. Didn’t notice for months it wasn’t pulling in water from the brine tank. So, for months it wasn’t cleaning the resin. I tried this and was amazed. I had never heard of this product, or using it in a water softener. But to my surprise, it release so much iron that the rinse stage wasn’t enough. I had to repeatedly fill a washing machine. Fill, drain, fill, drain about 5 or 6 times before the water cleared up. Afterwards my water was completely soft again. As the softener never uses much salt, as it’s the digital, programmable for hardness and water metered variety, I thought nothing of it. So, I have no idea how long this was going on. But it’s like new again. And the water that was coming out of the line, even after the cleaning and rising of the resin was dark, reddish brown from the iron. I’m anxious to do it again soon. Great tip to completely restore the appliance. I’ve often wondered about using CLR for calcium, lime and rust, but this did the trick & mine is back up and running like new. Thanks again!!!
Good article! Just put softener in last night and noticed low pressure in the shower today. After double checking, I noticed I hooked up the supply and outlet lines backwards. I switched them back and the pressure is still low. All we did was use the shower twice when they were backwards. Do I need to worry about the shower plumbing being clogged with resin?
Thank you so much for this article. This is going to help me out a lot. I have the exact same unit you have as well. Unfortunately I have allowed the unit to run really low on salt and when I saw below I believe I saw a small pool of dirty water at the bottom, is that normal? Also, would it be ideal to remove the unit and clean and flush it out if there is dirt or stuff pooling up at the bottom of the salt tank? If so how can this unit be detached and reinstalled? And do you have a article on that? TIA!
Can/should this be done on a regular basis for newer machines. Mine is 2 years old, but I haven’t done the cleansing… seems to be functioning fine, I ordered the cleanser, but I’m wondering if there is a drawback to doing this with the iron out and also if it’s ok to cleanse soon after or is this better?
Thank you for this awesome article! I’m new to the water softner game (about 2 years in) and have yet to flush it. I’m going to try this tomorrow. For a couple months now, noticed a suffer smell coming from my taps (on city water), could the build up be the cause? Also, I could only find iron out in liquid form at my local HD, would this also be okay? Thanks again!!
This is great. I’m actually heading to Home Depot now to get salt cus mine is low but I didn’t even think to get that Iron Out solution so thank you. My water started tasting funny yesterday, like salty, and I looked in the reservoir and saw the salt was low and has a layer of water sitting on top of it as well as bits of sediment on top. Not a good sign. So this definitely helped
Hello good article. Jus a question how I know if my system has resin at bottom of the tank. I usually just put salt (those white rocks) and that’s all. But Today while I was cleaning the tank I saw at bottom brown water. I started to wondering if it is working well and how to clean at bottom . Could you give me advised. I can send you photos . Thanks in advance
I have a very old EcoWater system. (purchased thru a door to door salesman so old lol) Mine looks similar to yours. However I have neglected add the salt on the regular. It was completely dry,, just had standing water in it. So I go buy some & added salt. So okay for a while. So I again neglected adding as I should. This time salt in the bottom is either dirty or moldy. So I didn’t add it. I found your article. Will this work for mine? I’m thinking of taking pictures of it & asking Home Depot. What do you suggest. Thanks. Ps. My ex earned me never to let it dry up. Omgoodness. Lol. 2024 on I want to be on top of things.
We have a water boss water softener. About six months ago it over flowed and water was all over the floor. After six calls to the company and being told many times that it was impossible we just took it offline. We cleaned the salt tank with hot water and a shop vac but really just didn’t feel like cleaning up another overflow. Could this have caused that problem? I don’t recall seeing a tube like this to pour the water and iron out mixture into.
Great article, one question though. Is using iron out an alternative to the recommended cleanser they tell you to buy for cleaning or do I still need the recommended whirlpool cleanser as well? Mine suggests that as opposed to iron out like the softener in the article, I’m assuming it’s essentially the same thing.
My house was built in 1996. I recently had someone out to check out the existing systems in the house for reverse osmosis and hard water softener in the garage. They informed me that both systems were end of life and they needed brand new systems. I was really surprised about the hard water softener and I was wondering if there is a useful life of 10 20 or 30 years for these units. Mine is just an old mechanical one with a timer, not digital. I will give this a try but I was wondering if they were right and I need to buy a home system? Thanks in advance
Thanks, great article you explained everything with good detail. We have water that contains a Lot of iron so I use an iron out product already and I’m too happy with it to change, but it’s a liquid. What would be the correct amount to use? Not sure if the chemical concentration is the same as in the powder? Thanks.
In my area I use the salt crystals in the unit its a RHEEM Model RHS32. I have been using the cleaner they recommend every 4 months since I got in April of 2023. Here is my issue the inside of the tank that holds the salt, it appears to have black stuff on the walls, it does not smell but the water that comes out of the sink smells very musty. Page 13 talks about the Bypass Blending Valve. Also I have seen some talk about adding bleach. I am a bit overwhelmed and do not want to break anything. So any help to get rid of the musty mildew smell would be great. I already reached out to my water company and they claim its not on there end. I see you you fill it up to the 7 level, I go about 5 and I weekly move the salt around so it is all level and no blocks of salt form that I can see.
Just had a water system installed. After extensive research, I opted for the ecowater system. It is similar than the GE in this article. Zach, who is part of this family owned business, installed it himself. They build their whole system from A to Z. It comes with a full life time warranty, unlike any other system. ( The max I found is 10 years). Zach explained to me everything one need to know about water softeners, water conditioner, filters, reverse osmosis…. My own research allowed me to ask specific questions. Each one was answered with such clarity and sense that I decided to get the refined system even though it was at least double of the budget I had in mind. In the long run, I will save money and headaches. That said, he also explained to me, as a pioneer and builder of the refined system that uses the best of all worlds, softening, conditioning and filtering, that filling up the salt to the max is a big mistake. You can call him or call Bryan, his father in law, owner of the ecowater system, why it is a mistake. One thing is sure, I never thought I would be so happy with a water system. I wish I knew its benefits long ago. Don’t waste your money on cheaper systems that will in fact cost you much more in a not so long run. I am not advertising for ecowater at all. But i can tell that I saw the immediate benefits of a great water treatment system. Honestly, people spend thousands of dollars in hair product. What a waste when you can have the most beautiful and shiny hair after a simple shower.
I’ve been using the Iron Out for about 4yrs before I stumbled across this article. Except I dump in the entire bottle dry into the salt tank and then add my salt on top, every single month. We have extremely hard water and tons of iron. Between the Iron Out and the Iron salt, it’s a perfect combination and works really well. One time I forgot to add salt, went on vacation and came back and our water was extremely hard, hot water smelled like a big fart and iron stains all inside the toilets. I’ll never make that mistake again!
Texas Well water treatment I have a question about my (well water) and this community seems educated. A local water treatment company wants to sale me a clack WS1 valve 48k grain water softener single tank(single vs 2 tank water softener what’s the difference?) (Not sure if this is big enough softener may need to tell them to go with 64k grain), Nitrate filter tank( do I need this), whole house water settlement filter for $3,300 includes labor and fittings, what do you think about price and size of water softener. Never had one before. Water is: hardness 35 GPG, Nitrate 10 ppm(is it safe to shower in and brush your teeth with), Nitrite 0ppm, Alkalinity 220ppm, iron 0ppm, copper .03ppm, chlorine 0ppm, PH 7.8ppm-8.5ppm(depending on the test), TDS 894ppm (their test), pesticides no, Lead no. I use primo for drinking water so don’t need RO system. 2 bathrooms with (one 60 gallon garden tub, 2 showers) with 2 maybe 3 people(full time at home) with guests once a month. At 100 gallons a day per full time person. What water softener grain capacity should I have. 35x200x7 days=49,000 grain 35x300x7 days=73,500 grain 2 person @100 gallons @35 GPG hardness=200×35=7,000 grains a dayx7 day region=49k grain but with 48k grain it will be 6.8571428571 days region May have 3 people @100 gallon at 35 gpg hardness=73.5K grains, 7 day region. But with 48k grain it will region 300×35=10,500 grain a day, 48K÷10,500= 4.5714285714 days before region. 6.8571428571-4.5714285714=2.2857142857 days less before region 30÷4.
Overuse of ironout will cause your resin to fail especially the resin being manufactured today. The resin beads split in half and float into the valve body causing harm to the valve. Consider an iron filter or inline cartridge filter to protect the softner from issues. Especially if you have a lot of iron.
I finally got my softener empty of salt. It was full of Duracube red out but was full of ice bridges and bad mushing at the bottom . That is finally gone. I put about 3 buckets of hot water in tank and resin tube to get it perfectly clean before trying salt again. Should I do the Iron out thing and do another recycle even though it just contains water now? I have a well and horrible iron and calcium problems. Thank you in advance.
Should the water level change within the brine well at all? I put the Iron Out in my brine well and did a manual recharge right after. The brine well still smells like the Iron Out after the recharge and it doesn’t look like the water level ever changes within the brine well. I’m trying to figure out if I have a valve issue or not somewhere. I hear the water draining when I run the recharge so I know that water is at least moving through the resin tank, but I just can’t tell if the water is coming in to the resin tank from the brine well.
I have a larger unit but only two people in the house. What’s the max time I can allow between regenerations? Does the build up on resin get worse only by excessive softening or just over time regardless of volume of water treated? So even if we only use 500 gallons a month, can I have it only regenerate monthly or does time matter Thanks
Thanks for the article, it got my WS (the same as the one in the article) started up but the water is dirty inside, above the salt pellets. I recharged many times and no sign of draining the water, I tapped a plastic spike down to the bottom on each side of the WS and nothing is happening ? There is some water sound and the water hasn’t drained the water looks dirty in the WS and it smells like sewage
My water softener is about 10 years old. Recently it has stopped draining. I have about 2 feet of standing water. Do you think this process would help? Also, do I need to fill it with salt in order to do this? I stopped putting salt in when it stopped draining. I have by passed it all together for now.
I have a whirlpool softener similar to yours. It has been sitting for about 3 years in bypass because the timer broke. I fixed the timer. I regenerated. Water is clear but the smell is like burnt rancid odor. Do you think maybe the iron out will help clean the resin and tank? I have tried bleach but it not working. I have iron out on hand. My well is sulfur not iron. TIA!
My water softener system is pretty old. probably from the 80s. It looks like the old two tank system in your article. It doesn’t have a brine well in the brine tank. Where do I add the Iron Out solution? Do I just add it to the salt water in the brine tank? Also, I’m supposed to clean the brine tank once a year. If I disconnect the brine tank to take dump it outside, will I have trouble when I reconnect it? Will I have air in the line, and it won’t work?
great article! i’m renting and i don’t know how this thing works, looks almost exactly like yours. i figured it recharged every night automatically (set to 2 am). do i need to press the button to make it recharge that night? how often should i do it? i’ve been doing a few months now and never pressed any buttons. it has salt in it.
We had our water tested. The results showed we had very hard water. Anything over 180 mg/L was considered very hard according to testing agent. Our water was at 222.3 mg/L. Iron results were very high too, obviously. Taste thresholds should be 0.1-0.2 mg/L. Ours tested at 1.83. We just replaced our water softener and I want to make sure we do an excellent job maintaining it. With our water being so hard would it be a good idea to use the iron out twice a year instead of annually?
I have a question if someone could help. I just got my softner unblocked but realize this new house has a softner but no water storage tank it is on demand from the boiler. Does this matter? I have an old kenmore 75 on demand softner that supposedlly monitors water use and recharges accordingly. There is no setting to change that. Should i increase my hardness level so that it recharges more often? Not sure please help me if you know? Thanks for the article it helped alot.
How do you harden the water? My community provides soft water and it leaves slimy soap residue all over you (causing acne and other skin conditions) and makes the bottom of the shower dangerously slippery and is causing all my clothes to wear out faster. The soft water seems too soft to remove soaps when rinsing. I don’t want crazy hard water, just to make it a healthy in between.
Hi there great article. I recently moved in to a new home with my first water softener. I noticed the salt level was low and refilled it. Ever since that refill, my washing machine filter and other faucets seem to get blocked up with tiny little crystals which I’ve been thinking might be salt. I have to do this every couple of days or I begin to get low water pressure. Any thoughts?
Thanks for posting this. I just bought a condo where the 4 units share a whole building water softener. I found out when I turned on the shower the first time. The water started coming out of the faucets and showers black as ink and stinking, leaving a black residue all over. I called a plumber and he filled me in. When you let the resin go in a water softener it desintegrates and the particles go into the plumbing. So I had to flush all the pipes in my home. Now the water runs clear but it’s soapy, sticky as snot. I would like to be able to adjust the salt level inside my home as apparently the others are fine with that. Maybe a water filter?
Thank you! I bought a house that has a water softener 2 years ago and the previous owner just told me to add salt when it’s almost empty. Never knew I had to set the amount of salt I added in the computer. It always filled water in the tank for only 2 kilo’s of salt when running a regeneration cycle, now it properly filled for the amount of 25 kilo’s salt that I just poured in. The results after 2 years not working properly is chalk everywhere and probably the cause of the warm water boiler leaking. One question though: at what interval do you recommend to run a regeneration cycle? My softener is currently set on every 2 weeks.
I don’t have iron in my water, just an excessive amount of minerals in it. I am located in Greece and there are no additives available over here. What chemical can I use to safely remove the excessive mineral build up? I do have Hydrogen peroxide at 35% concentration, will it effectively clean the resin? If so how much of this concentration is needed?
Water sortners are ion exchange. The resin beads hold onto calcium and magnesium ions and are exchanged with sodium ions during regeneration. These sodium ions are then given up into the water as the hardness ions are replacing them. If your water does not contain high amounts of iron then cleaning with iron out is not necessary as the resin will not be fouled.
Question regarding post maintenance. After I use the product Out Filter Mate, my water’s color is a light blue, especially at turn on. I usually let the water flow for a few seconds and then it’s clear. This lasts only a few days. Is this possibly caused by hardness in the pipes becoming loose? Please explain. Thanks in advance.
I have both a well water motor and a water softener. Oops, I panicked and disconnected the softener and now my well motor won’t shut off sending water out of the softener hose. I had to shut that off also. Help!! It’s the weekend. And I cannot afford emergency rates for a plumber. Will closing the bypass valve help this untill it recycles and I can reset the pump?
Hi – I want to remove my system completely. I have one of the older models from 2013. It has the dials instead of the digital controls. I no longer need the equipment because I switched to community water. Could you please give me a little help with this ? I don’t mind doing it myself, I just don’t know where to start. Thank you !
So I tried this last night using the Iron Out. Today our well water is super soft and that iron smell and taste that we had prior has now been replaced with sulfur/rotten egg smell instead. Is that because we’ve always had the egg smell but the iron has been covering it up or have I created a whole new problem?
When I had mine installed, the installer told me to only use “the blue bags at Lowe’s Hardware”. He never told me why (or I forgot) I should use that. Instead, I just went to Lowe’s, like a drone, and purchased the blue bags. Awhile ago, the bags changed color and now I’m not sure what the difference is between the bags I find there. Solar vs pellets, blue versus yellow bags, etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I live in NC and am on a community well, if that makes any difference.
I have a question because this is the first time that I heard about water softener after we bought our home and I’ve been looking to my neighbors backyard and some of them have like water softener installed to the water well but we don’t, is that something that you really need if you are not connected to the city water???
I just had an A.O. Smith 450T (45,000 grain single unit) installed for about a week now and have noticed that there is a copper-colored residue that sits at the bottom of the toilet and also at the bottom of the bathtub after a bath. I am on city water in San Antonio, TX. I never saw this before installing the water softener. Is this rust? Would giving a Rust Out cleansing address this issue? If it is rust, why is it only showing up now ? Is the salt basically releasing the rust that has been in the pipes all along? Is there a health concern?
Super Iron Out == Sodium Metabisulfite (food-safe equipment cleaner for wine/beer makers) and Sodium Sulfite (the milder version of ‘Salt Peter’, also a potential ‘percussion explosive’ when in it’s pure state…the white stuff on the tip of a strike-anywhere match)…you CAN make your own if needed…
Mine is similar to the blue take and separate salt container. I have always been told not to fill it up and always have about 4″ water above the salt. However, I haven’t had to add salt but it it has been down to 1/3 for a very long time. It is about 12 years old. City water. I do have hard water evidence on faucets. What suggestions do you have? Thank you
I don’t have a plumbing loop so I have soft water at all my outside faucets. My wife would like to water her plants but…..well you know what happens when you do that! How do you feel about the salt substitute? K-Life etc. Also if I switch to potassium do I have empty the salt tank completely or can I just let it get low and add the potassium?
Tried Iron Out for 4 rounds but the water still looks light brown, like a weak tea. Bypassing the softner clears the water again (and of course means it is hard water again). I’m sure it was run for some time without salt, but the flow rate is still good, just brown. Tips? (on city, not well water BTW)
I checked the water quality report here in San Antonio, TX, and they do not list iron under inorganic contaminates. I assume iron-out will not be effective here. Occasionally I clean small amounts of tiny resin from the faucet filters and on more rare occasions I detect a strong taste of salt. Any suggestions? Thank you for this article!
do you have a suggestion of which water softener brand is best or does it really not matter? should I just ask my local water …. store? i actualy live in MA (stoughton) with well water, and it looks like I already have some type of whole house filter. i think it’s just for minerals and stuff. maybe you would know better. i do not have the filter that involves any salt. i am currently getting white deposits all over my sink and basically anywhere the water touches, so i am guessing i need an actual softener. any recommendations?
Good article as always, I never thought about the iron out product that’s a really great idea! Do you ever clean out the brine tank? Last year I disconnected the brine tank when it was nearly empty and I took it out into the driveway, sprayed it out with a hose and scrubbed the inside. Helps to clear out that salt build up on the walls. Not sure how often to do this but it seems to have helped!
I put the iron out in my salt tank after completely removing the salt from my salt tank and scrubbing down the entire tank. This worked for about a month in making my water soft but after that it became hard again. The salt level does not appear to be going down, and when I do a regeneration I hear a banging sound. I know this isn’t good. I ha e not touched the brine tank because it is more difficult to access but am wandering if there is something there. The tank is only a out5 years old with a fleck controller. Water seems to be drawn into the tank as the eye glass both empties and fills up. Any suggestions. Thanks.
I have a unit with no salt tank but 2 resin like tanks. Sorry for my wording. I don’t know what I’m talking about. They have dials on them like the one at 2:35 seconds. They are constantly “discharging”. It has completely flooded my yard. Someone said that the seals were wore out on it but didn’t tell me what to fix. Help. Thank you