Water Softener Maintenance Tips To Keep In Mind

Keep an eye on salt level

It’s crucial to watch one of the main elements of your water system-- the salt. When your salt level starts to decrease, you’ll have hard water running into your pipes. Your system won’t function at its best without the right amount of salt.

Having low levels of salt will result in hard water. It will leave residue on your fixtures or result in dry skin and sticky hair.

You don’t want that to happen. So keeping an eye on your salt level is essential. You might be thinking, how much salt does my water softener need? Professionals suggest checking your salt levels every 4-6 weeks, depending on your equipment or the level of hardness of the water.

Watch out for hardened salt

If you’re using your water softener regularly, there’s a high chance of having a hardened salt bridge in your brine tank. Usually, not-so-good quality salt, humidity, and high temperature are the cause of salt bridges.

The salt bridges block your resin beads from backwashing the water. With the salt bridges blocking the resin beads, the system will not produce quality soft water. Check your brine tank regularly and see if there is hardened salt you need to kick out.

To identify a salt bridge, you’ll be needing a stick or a tool that can push through the brine tank. If you bump into something hard and not yet reached the bottom or the sides, that’s a salt bridge.

You can break the salt bridge by poking it through the stick. But be careful not to damage the tank. Warm water can help break down the salt bridge if necessary.

Clean your brine tank

Professionals suggest having your brine tank cleaned at least once a year. If not, the brine tank will deteriorate and can form clumps and sludges.

To avoid future problems, make sure that your tank is clean. But before getting all of those cleaning equipment, don’t forget to read the instruction manual of the water softener.

There are numerous ways on how to clean your brine tank, depending on the company you’ve partnered. Usually, to clean your brine tank, you have to prepare a place to dump the brine. It can be a pit or a gravel bed located in your backyard.

Place the tank on bypass mode and unplug the water softener. Take the tank off and discharge all the content in the pit you prepared. Then follow the cleaning instructions from the manual.

It’s also important to know the right way on how to clean the whole water softening system so you won’t damage it. To have the best out of your tank, have it clean every six to twelve months.

Replenish your water softener resin

Next to salt, your resin plays a crucial part in the overall function of the water softener system. Resin is where the ion exchange takes place. Even though the resin bed can last long, high levels of iron and chlorine can lessen the life of your resin.

Try to observe if the water softener has enough salt but still produces hard water. Then maybe it’s time to have a new resin bed.

Should you have all the necessary equipment, you can do the job alone. But professionals can finish the work much faster and surely. You can have an appointment with plumbing experts if necessary.

Use quality salt

Most people use leftover salt or what’s available in the pantry. It may sound convenient and cheap, but water softener requires quality salt.

If you wish to have the best soft water at home, you need to use the right kind of salt that fits your water softener system. If not, high levels of chemical impurities will build up and eventually block water flow from your system. 

High-quality salt may be more expensive compared to regular salt. However, it can save you from bad situations in the long run.

There are different types of salt that you can use; crystals, block salt, rock salt, and evaporated salt pellets. Most if not all water softener uses the salt pellets. If you’re not sure about which salt you need to use, don’t hesitate to consult with the experts.

Have a prefilter

If you don’t have one yet, better get one today. Water softener pre-filter helps remove water impurities such as rust, sediment, and undissolved particles. It filters out contaminants before it reaches the tank.

Research says that pre-filter works fine up until six to nine months of use. Afterward, a new one is needed. Most companies include pre-filter with your system installation. After all, this can only be done by a professional.

By having a pre-filter, you are saving your tank and whole system from possible damages and clogging. It also saves water softener’s life and performance.

Ideally, there are two types of water filters; sediment and carbon. The best pre-filter for you will depend on the water softener system you have and on what you want to filter out.

Sediment pre-filters work best on well water while carbon fits on municipal or city water. If you wish to know more about the best fit pre-filter you need, contact us at filtersmart.com.