I am buying a house and there is corrosion on the plumbing fixtures and water supply line fittings.   Copper wiring from some electrical outlets are black.  There is little water in the salt tank.  Both bladder tanks are full of water. The water softener hose is not connected, the aerator tank is dirty and has film covering the upper portion of the water.  can this be causing the wiring in the house to turn black?

Answer: The water quality would have nothing to do with the electrical wiring – we are not electricians – but suspect the problem may be due to poor grounding.  We would recommend that you contact an electrician for his opinion. 

The corrosion of the plumbing fixtures may be due to low water pH or a high level of hardness.  The slimy film is indicative of an iron bacteria problem.  The corrosion on the piping may only be due to the pipe installer using an acid based flux, and not cleaning the joint well when soldering is complete.  To resolve you water problems, you should first obtain a water analysis.  We offer one for free on out site. Hope this helps!

About 2 months ago, I installed a Kenmore whole house water softener and a GE Water Filter.  Everthing was going fine until about a week ago.  I started noticing a very strong sulfur smell and taste in the water - especially first thing in the morning.  It is also more noticeable in the bathroom than in the kitchen.  I’m not sure if this is due to the fact that it is a small room and there is alot of water being released at one time due to showers, etc.  When I called the help line at Kenmore they didn’t have any good answers as to why this might be happening.

I thought that maybe there was a salt bridge in the softener and there was.  I did break the salt bridge several times and this did not seem to help at all.  Is it possible that I need to replace the filter already - or do you think it is something else?  The water also tastes a little saltier than it used to.
Please help if you can.  Thank you.

Answer: There are a few possibilities, and we would really need to know some additional information before we can suggest the most likely cause of this odor. The formation of a salt bridge so quickly after water softener installation is a sign the the regeneration process may not be functioning correctly.  Also, we don’t know what type of filter you have, but we would suggest that you remove it, and see if the problem goes away.

If you are have a non-chlorinated onsite well, it is possible that the odor is due to sulfur or iron bacteria.  This is a nuisance bacteria that has no effect on health but can give off a strong sulfur odor.  It is a sticky material that resides on the outside of an iron or sulfur particle, and over time will build up within the water softener resin bed, eventually leading to fouling of the bed.  While a water softener bed may provide a place for this material to develop at a faster rate, if this problem exists, you have probably noticed it prior to installation of the softener.

If you are using municipal (chlorinated) water, this is less likely to be the problem. If the odor is only detected on the hot water side, and you have an electric hot water heater, then the problem may be due to a degrading  sacrificial anode that is contained within water heater.

If the problem seems only to be evident at certain locations throughout the home, it may simply be that bacteria has formed in the sink drains at specific locations.  If this is the case, just poor some household chlorine bleach into the drain, and see if the problem goes away.

Finally, the problem may simply be due to a malfunctioning water softener (as mentioned above) that is not regenerating correctly.  Easy way to check this is to by-pass the unit, flush all of the lines within the house with untreated water, and see if the problem goes right away.  If it does, you may need to contact Kenmore for more assistance.

Recently, I noticed a large amount of resin coming out of a garden hose. I checked the household faucets and fixtures, and found a relatively minor amount of resin in some of them. The resin beads did not look degraded, and did not crumble when pressed firmly with a spoon.

I have a Technetic Plus 1000i and the distributor is the type with a basket at the bottom and another one somewhere around the middle. My system is somewhere around a decade old. I checked the distributor and did not see any cracks or breaks. I measured the slits and they were all between .25 and .29 mm.   There was a small amount of grime, but cleaning it did not fix the problem.  Likewise, the injector screen needed cleaning, but it did not fix the problem, and everything else looks clean.

I don’t know how big the resin beads are supposed to be, but they look fairly uniform. They are small enough that if I put some on my finger and rub the basket, some will pass through. But I don’t see anything that would explain a sudden failure.  Is there somewhere else I should be looking for some sort of leak, or is there some other problem that seems likely based on what I described?

Answer: Probably not your resin - your description indicates the resin is fine, and not degraded. There are only a few ways that resin can be found in the treated household water.  The first is that the inlet/outlet connections are reversed.  Assuming that this is not a new installation, this is probably not the problem here.

The second is a poor seal between the valve control head and the riser tube found in the center of the resin bed.  There is an o-ring that seals the tube when it is inserted into the valve.  If this o-ring is damaged, misaligned, or missing, it is possible for resin to escape the tank.

The last and most probable cause is (as you have already pointed out) a broken screen.  Even though you have visibly inspected the basket, press individually on each of the individual vanes.  Sometimes the screen looks intact, but is actually damaged.  The upper basket in your unit does not normally come into play during service operation, but if this is damaged, and some of your valve discs (flapper valves in the control head) are leaking, it is possible (but unlikely) for resin to leave the tank through this screen.  Check it to be sure.

Our water softener won’t stop running & it’s unplugged. It keeps making our sump pump kick in & I need it to stop.

Answer:  There should be a by-pass valve installed that will prevent water from entering the softener.  Find this valve, and shut it off – this should resolve your problem.  If there is no by-pass valve installed, and you are unable to physically move the softener into a cycle that does not discharge water to drain, then you may neeed a service call from your local water softener dealer.

We just installed our new water softner, it works fine.  With the purchase came two bags of “salt”.  When I was adding them I noticed they were potassium chloride instead of the sodium chloride which we used previously.  In reading about using it versus sodium chloride it infers that you can use water softened with potassium chloride on your plants and outdoor gardens without the detrimental effects of sodium chloride.  Our house is plumbed for the outside spigots to be hard water but our friends house isn’t and that has prevented them from installing a water softner.  I called the information line on the bag as was told this is true.  Can I get a second opinion?  Thanks.

Answer: At normal levels of hardness, the amount of sodium contained within softened water is extremely low (only about 7 mg/l per grain of hardness).  At this low level, plants are not normally effected by sodium anyway.  However, it is true that using potassium chloride in a water softener can be beneficial – the potassium in the water is a fertilizer and nutrient – good for plants.  The downside is that with increased use of potassium for agricultural purposes (for instance in growing bio-fuels), the price of this material is significantly higher when compared to sodium chloride.  Whatever you decide to use, we always recommend that you use sodium chloride or potassium chloride purified for use in water softeners (available at many supermarkets, plumbing supply and hardware stores).  Non-sodium potassium chloride is commonly available and sold under the brand names Morton KCL, K-Life, Softouch and Nature’s Own.

We have an Autotrol 255/460i system.  We are moving to a new house and would like to take this with us.  How do we drain and prepare it for moving?

Answer: All you really need to do is by-pass the water softener (if there is a by-pass valve).  Make sure that there is no water pressure on the system before you attempt to remove it.  If there is no by-pass valve, you must turn off your well pump and drain the household water to remove the pressure.

1) Un-plug the unit
2) Close both the inlet and outlet by-pass valves (discussed above).
3) There is a button on the front of your control that contains an arrow.
4) You will see a slot for a screwdriver in the center of the button.  Using a flathead screwdriver, depress the button to release the mechanism, and rotate the button counter-clockwise into the backwash position. This will relieve the water pressure in the unit.  You can also relieve the pressure by pushing on valve #7, as shown in your manual.
5) Carefully unscrew the valve mounted on the top of the tank (counter-clockwise to unscrew).  Although the unit will be heavier  to move, don’t try and remove all of the water from the resin bed – make sure the resin stays moist until you re-install the unit at the new location.

To reinstall, you will need a new bypass valve and tube kit – these are available on our company site – just click on this link.

1) At the new location, just attach the new by-pass valve to your control, and connect it to the new copper tubes that you installed onto to your household piping.
2) Re-install the valve onto the tank - hand tighten, and then a little more to seal - do not over-tighten!
3) Slowly open the inlet by-pass valve, and allow the tank to fill.  When the tank is full, open the outlet by-pass valve.
4) With the unit still in backwash position, you will note that rinse water is running to drain.  At first this water may appear slightly “cloudy” - allow the unit to backwash until the water runs clear (normally 1 to 2 minutes).
5) After water is running clear, plug in the electrical, and advance the button (as above) into the Service/Conditioned Water position.  The softener is now ready for normal operation.  Reprogram for new water hardness setting if required (instructions for doing this are also in your manual).

If the unit is reinstalled into an application where there is no chlorine contained in the water (normally on-site well applications – municipal water sources contain chlorine), you might want to disinfect the water softener.  Place 1.2 fluid ounces of household 5.25% chlorine bleach into the brine tank along with a few 3 to 4 gallons of water.  Regenerate the unit two times in succession.

We are in the market to replace our water softener, and have been advised that our tannin level is very high at over 3 ppm.  Since the water is very hard (22 GPG), iron is not detected, pH is 7.1 units, we were told that we need a water softener using tannin resin in addition to the standard resin used for softening.

We have also been advised that we have two options: combine both types of resin in one softener; or purchase two separate “softening” systems – the first to remove iron and hardness, and the second to remove the tannins.

We are in the market to replace our water softener, and have been advised that our tannin level is very high at over 3 ppm.  Since the water is very hard (22 GPG), iron is not detected, pH is 7.1 units, we were told that we need a water softener using tannin resin in addition to the standard resin used for softening.

We have also been advised that we have two options: combine both types of resin in one softener; or purchase two separate “softening” systems – the first to remove iron and hardness, and the second to remove the tannins.

What would you recommend?  Any advice you can provide would be very much appreciated.

Answer: Basically, a mixed bed option (two types of resins in one softener) is a less expensive option, but not always the preferred route.  The reason is because when higher hardness, iron, or manganese levels are present, these can cause deactivation of tannin specific resin, and lead to bed failure. In a mixed bed, the tannin (anion exchange) resin is of lower density when compared to traditional cation (water softening) resin, so the tannin removal resin will always be located on top of the cation resin.  A standard softener flow pattern design has the raw (untreated) water passing first down through the resin bed, with treated water exiting out of the distributor tube, and into your home.  The problem here is that the raw water first travels through the tannin removal resin, and if higher levels of hardness/iron/manganese are present, this can result is deactivation of the tannin resin over time.  If you have lower hardness, iron and manganese, this can be an appropriate solution, but with high levels of theses contaminants, it is a better idea to first place a traditional water softener in advance of a softener that is designed specifically for tannin removal.

One other thing you need to be aware of is that different tannin specific anion exchange resins will work only on specific types of tannins.   There are also different type of “tannins” throughout the country, and to correctly treat your specific tannin, you need to select the correct resin for the job.  Anion resins that are specific for only one type of tannin are available at lower cost, but if you apply them into the wrong application, the resin you use may not work effectively to correct your problem.  The way around this is to use a macroporus type anion exchange resin.  The advantage is that this type of resin will removal all types of tannins - the disadvantage is that it is expensive. You can see some of the tannin resins we have available on our Chemicals, Resin & Filter Media  page.

Tannin is a difficult material to treat for, and incorporating tannin resin into a system will always add cost, as tannin resin is expensive - be cautious - lower additional cost can mean an insufficient amount of tannin resin is used in the system design.  Tannin resin does have a finite lifetime, but exact duration of the resin bed is difficult to predict, as this depends on flow rate, water quality, temperature, and water usage.  Generally, you can expect an normal service life of somewhere between 3 to 7 years before you need to replace the resin at a cost of approximately $560.00 (replacement of resin only - not the complete system!).

Hi, in a house I just bought, I have well water with 150ppm hard water and coliform bacteria.   The water is 7.2ph and .3ppm iron with nitrates, etc. virtually non-existent.  I have purchased a Trojan UV filter to kill the bugs and a CAI 268/762 softener with 2 clear 20″ BB filters to keep it happy.  We have 40psi at the pressure tank.  Should I put one of the filters as a pre-filter before the softener?  If so, what filter size?
I was originally planning to put the 2 filters after with one being a 50-5 graduated pleated filter and the other a 1 micron string filter. Thanks!

Answer:  You should have at least 5-micron pre-filtration in advance of any ultraviolet sterilization (UV) system.  We would recommend that you put a 20-micron cartridge in first position (in front of the water softener) to catch the big stuff.  The second filter would contain the 5-micron cartridge - also installed in front of the softener.  With a 20 inch Big Blue housing, the 1-micron cartridge would be OK too.  Normally a  1-micron cartridge can cause excessive pressure drop, but with your larger cartridge filter housing, this should not be a problem.

Our well produces lots of water but unfortunately it is of very poor quality.  Here are a few of the parameters that showed up on a recent analysis (all units are mg/L except for pH):
• Hardness: 1867 (109 GPG)
• TDS:  2850
• Iron:  <0.06
• Manganese:  0.87
• Sodium:  280
• Chlorides:  697
• Sulfates: 989
• pH:  7.7

I have a 3 cu. ft. softener (approx. 3 years old) that uses roughly 1 bag of salt per week.  We have a small RO system for our drinking water (one tap).

I have started to notice a couple of issues.  First, the last couple of times I changed the filters on the RO unit, one of them had a noticeable rust color to it.  I am assuming this indicates some iron is getting passed the softener (although my water test doesn’t show much of a reading for iron).  Second, the inside of the tanks of our toilets have turned black.  I am assuming this is indicative of manganese and again it is getting passed the softener.

Even with the softener, soap doesn’t lather particularly well and the washing machine and dishwasher don’t do particularly good jobs.  While I realize there is only so much that can be done given the poor quality of our water, I would like to try to improve things as much as possible.  My only constraint is that since I am already uncomfortable with the amount of softening salt that is ultimately ending up in my septic field, I don’t want to do anything that will increase my salt usage.

I have been wondering if I could add some sort of a filter ahead of the softener that could reduce the level of manganese.  Hopefully, this would allow the softener to function more effectively.  My problem is that I am getting contradictory advice on what sort of filter I should be looking at.  Here are the various recommendations I have received:

• Greensand filter and regenerate with potassium permanganate
• Chlorine injection system with carbon filter
• Air injection system

Unfortunately, the proponent of each system is giving me a list of “cons” for the other two systems:

• Greensand filter — not as effective as the other 2 “oxidation” systems and potassium permanganate is highly toxic.
• Chlorine injection — will turn my water “milky”;  there is something about my water that will cause it to react with the chlorine and “gunk up” the injector, requiring lots of maintenance; some chlorine may get past the carbon filter and eat away at any copper fittings on my plumbing system
• air injection — not effective for removing manganese

All my “experts” seem knowledgeable and well-intentioned so I’m having trouble deciding who I should believe (I’m a bit of a neophyte when it comes to this stuff).  Can you please give me your thoughts.  I don’t mind spending some money to upgrade my system but there is a significant cost to all these proposals and I would prefer not to spend my money on something that won’t be effective :-).

Many thanks for your attention to my long-winded post.

Answer:  Actually with such a high level of TDS and hardness, you might want to think about whole house reverse osmosis.  Let us know if you want us to design a system for you - it’s expensive though - probably within the 7 to 10K price range. But, with your existing equipment design, we can make the some comments.

While a manganese greensand filter would be effective, it is somewhat older technology.  You really should not have to worry about potassium permanganate being toxic, as a properly functioning greensand filter will not release any potassium permanganate into the household water supply.  We offer one of these systems on our site. A 1.5 ft3 unit is typical for residential applications, unless you have some unusual water consumption.

Chemical injection is not a preferred route here due to your very high TDS.

However, air-injection is effective at removing manganese, and you may be getting information that is not complete.  Stay away from the low-cost in-line venturi based injectors – they put a tremendous load on your well pump.  Consider a system like our Iron-Pro,  also known as the Breaker III system, it uses a specially designed control valve and a media tank filled with birm media.  The unit keeps 1/2 of the tank filled with air at all times, and the iron & sulfur in your water is oxidized by the air, and any residual iron is “polished” and removed in the birm media contained within the tank.  It cleans and flushes the bed very aggressively, as air is also contained in the backwash water.  The Iron-Pro is a non-chemical solution, that removes very high levels of iron and manganese.  You can also take a look at the Clack corporation cut-sheet for birm that describes the function and properties this media used in the Iron-Pro system for additional information.

We have a Clack Corp. water softener (0809GDF) that came with the house when we purchased. The salt storage tank is always full of water and overflows when we add salt. I asked the installer to take a look at it, and his reply was we could try dipping the water out. Maybe there is a different solution?

Answer:  There could be a couple of causes, but the problem is that you seem to not be drawing solution during the brine draw stage.  A standard design softener refills a measured amount of water into the brine tank during regeneration.  This water dissolve the salt, and becomes saturated.  During the next regeneration stage, the water softener will draw all of this water (not brine solution) from the tank, and pass it through the resin bed to perform the automatic regeneration process.  You can read more about this process on our site.

In your case, the brine solution is not being drawn for the tank, and in an additive process, the water level gets higher and higher  with each regeneration cycle. Eventually, the safety float contained within the brine well stops the refill process – which is likely where you are now.  The vacuum that is created to draw the brine is caused by an internal venturi within the water softener control valve.   If the resin bed is fouled (needing replacement) this may cause too low of a flow to create the required vacuum.  There may also be a blockage or restriction in the drain line, which would also cause a low flow, and resulting loss of brine draw.  Other possibilities are salt “bridging” , which is the accumulation of solidified salt in the bottom of the brine tank that is preventing the brine solution from being drawn into the softener.  The last possibility is that you have an air leak in the brine line, however this is most commonly seen when the unit was recently installed or moved.  A document that discusses how to resolve an air leak can be found on our site under the services menu.  Hope this helped!

I live in Santa Clarita California and have a Culligan salt water softener with a water purification system in my kitchen. This system was in my house when we bought the house and seems to work just fine. The problem is the city has passed a new law banning salt water systems and has given us notice that we have to remove it by June. I would love to know if there is a system out there that really works! It would be great to have soft water and good clean water to drink. Any info would be welcome.

Answer:  Unfortunately, this legislation was passed leaving many homeowners without any viable alternative.  A quick internet search would seem to indicate that there are many “salt free” alternatives, but this may not be the case. To our knowledge, there are only a few ways to obtain “softened” water; standard ion exchange (salt based water softeners), deionization (not practical for residential application), reverse osmosis (very expensive for whole house application), and distillation (too energy intensive for whole house use).

Although there are many companies that offer “salt free” water softeners, we are not aware of any that are scientifically proven to provide softened water.  Claims are made that while “salt free” conditioners do not actually soften water, they prevent hardness components in the water from depositing on piping and fixtures.  Companies that offer these products say that because these systems do not remove water hardness, that there is no way to actually measure the performance. To date, we have not seen data that demonstrates that this process works as claimed, and until we do, we would not be able to provide any performance warranty, and do not advertise this equipment for sale. If we ever see some definitive proof of performance (other than anecdotal), we will begin offering these systems.

As mentioned above, although we will not be able to provide any performance guarantees, we can provide a salt free system that is identical to larger “combo” systems offered elsewhere, but at a more reasonable price.  The system would contain a Big Blue whole house 5-micron pre-filter (1” inlet/outlet connections), a 1” inlet/outlet head with by-pass on a 10” diameter x 54” tall tank  containing 1.5 ft3 of coconut shell grade carbon, followed by a second 10”x54” tank containing the Filtersorb SP-3 media.  This is a system designed for higher flow rate found in larger homes with 4+ baths, and the price will be around $1800.00 delivered.  Single tank design (pre-filter, Filtersorb SP-3, but without the carbon filter) would be priced around $1350.00 delivered.  As we mentioned, we don’t offer this system at the moment – we have it in stock – we are just not advertising it.  However, if you are interested in this equipment, just send us an email or respond to this post, and we will get in touch with you.

If there is iron bacteria forming in the resin softener, do you put the chlorine injection/carbon filter removal of chlorine BEFORE the softener, or AFTER the softener (in series)?

I’m being told before, but if that’s the case, how will that help elim. iron bacteria in the softener?  It would seem putting it before the softener would just help if there were sulfur smell in raw well water, which there isn’t.

Answer: You must place the chlorine injection system in advance of the water softener.  If you do not destroy the bacteria before it enters the softener, it will begin to reproduce within the softener bed, and eventually cause fouling of the bed (iron bacteria is very sticky).

You typically inject the chlorine between the well pump and pressure tank (where flow is constant, not requiring a variable speed pump), and then place a retention tank after the pressure tank to provide the required contact time to destroy the bacteria.  A carbon filter is next in line, to remove the chlorine and any particulate formed during the chlorine injection (oxidation) process.  Following this would be your water softener.  You can read more about these systems on our site at http://www.caitechnologies.com/shopping/ShowItem.asp?ItemID=CI-IB.

Are there any issues with supplying a water softener from a hot water pipe?  We are installing an espresso machine with a small manual flush softener, and the hot water pipe passes directly overhead, so that would be the preferred source if there are no issues.  Will a softener (plastic bead type) work properly with hot water input?

Answer: You can’t supply hot water to a standard water softener.  While standard cation exchange resin can be compatible with hot water, the softener tank, riser tube,  and valve body must all be specially configured for hot water use.  Using hot water is common in many commercial applications (like supplying water to a dishwasher) however, special valve bodies like the Fleck 4650, or the hot water version of the Fleck 2750 are required.  You may also need to use a vinylester FRP hot water tank.  If you would like us to quote on this application, just send an email to us at info@caitechnologies and describe the application.

I am currently shopping for  water softener. I am looking at the Morton systems, however, I do not know if I need a 20,000 or 27,000 grain system. How do I know? My son and I live in a condo. We do approximately 4 small loads of laundry / week and have a dishwasher that runs once or twice a week.

Answer: It really depends on your water hardness, but assuming that you are using municipal water, the smaller of the two sizes that you mentioned should be fine.  By the way, this brand is an entry level system, and you might want to shop around.  Commercial quality systems with far better warranties can be obtained for only a slightly higher price (industry standard systems that would work for you application are normally 24,000 grain capacity in size).  You can find out more about sizing a system on our “Selecting The Correct Sized Water Softener” on our site. �

I have an approx. 12 yr. old Culligan Mark 59 with a bad motor.  The teeth of one gear is stripped.  It is a M007, 3w 115v 60hz (Ithink it is a Mallory motor).  Where can I go to locate this motor?-Barry

Answer: The Culligan product is proprietary and the only company that we are aware of that can supply parts is Culligan.  You will need to contact a local dealer to obtain you replacement motor.

I have a MacClean water softner model CS 1001 two tank system. There is a small amount of water leaking from the resin tank onto the floor. The o-rings at the valve and adapter have been replaced. The system is around 6 years old. Could the tank have a crack? Can it be repaired? It is a fiberglass tank. Do you have any ideas?

Answer:  First, be sure to confirm that it is the tank seal that is leaking.  In other words, this is  the point at which the valve screws into the tank.  Sometimes a leak on the valve body flows down onto the tank, and it can appear as if that is where the leak is coming from.  If this is a possibility, dry the tank and valve well, and place a dry paper towel over suspected leak positions.  This will help you to identify where the leak is coming from.

If the leak is determined to be coming from the valve, valve parts are easy to replace.  However, if the leak is coming from the tank, and you have already replaced the tank o-ring and this has not helped, it is likely that you will require a replacement tank.  A 6-year old water softener is still fairly new, and we would recommend you rebuild it.  You can take a look at some of the one that we offer on our “Tank & Tank Parts” page.  It’s likely that you will also want to replace the resin and gravel contained within the tank – we offer these also on our “Chemicals, Resin and Filter Media” page.

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Based on laboratory analysis of the well water in my newly purchased home, I recently installed an A400 water softener (for high Arsenic), air injector (for hydrogen sulphide smell) and iron filter (for high iron) but have now noticed a blue film on my shower floor.  I have retested the water and found that the equipment is doing its job (minimal arsenic, minimal iron, no smells) but it is now high in lead and copper and showing a pH of 5.2.  Trouble is, I rechecked the ‘pre-treatment’ water (sample taken before pressure tank and water softener/iron filter) and have no copper or lead problem and the pH shows 6.0.  The company who sold/installed my equipment says it will not lower my pH but something is going on in the few ft between the pressure tank and my faucet and the only thing there is this new (now 8 months old) equipment.  What is your opinion on this matter and do you have any suggested remedies? Thank-you.

Answer: Purolite A400 (apparently used in your sostener) is a clear gel Type I strong-base anion exchange resin.  Anion exchange resins are different from common household cation exchange resins that are used for water softening.  Anion exchange resins perform specific tasks, but will lower the pH of your water as it passes through the bed.  This is probably the cause of your blue staining.  It is typical to install a pH neutralizer to correct the water pH to within an acceptable range of 7.0 to 7.8 units after passing through an anion exchanger. Selecting the correct type of pH neutralization system depends on your  specific  water quality, and you can find additional information about this on our site.

I have a couple of questions.

1. Will it negate the softening process if only my hot water is softened?  In my ideal location the cold water has already branched off to the bathrooms, which seems it would do no good for bathing.  The laundry and kitchen are after this location.

2. If I place it at the main entry of the line (at the meter), the nearest location to drain it is around 30 feet away.  Will this work?  The booklet with my softener says to increase the hose diameter for anything over 25 feet.

3. If I do use the long drain hose, the closest drain is the actual ejector pit.  Can I install a pipe through the lid ( with a collar/gasket) and bring it to the wall leaving the top of it open to receive the water from the drain hose?

4. Last one, I promise.  How important is the 2″ gap in between the drain hose and the actual drain pipe?

Answer: Although you can soften only the hot water, most household water use is cold, and it would be a poor compromise, as your cold water would not be softened at all.  In addition, bath & laundry water would be only partially softened.

You should have no problem with sending water to drain 30 feet away.  Just take care to minimize the vertical head pressure – horizontal distance to drain only adds a minor amount of backpressure.  Make sure the inside diameter of your drain line is a minimum of ½ inch.

Your plan for the drain location should work, but we are not plumbers, and this may be in violation of local plumbing codes.  We would recommend that you check to see if this meets your local code before proceeding with this plan.

Use of an air-gap in a water softener drain that is connected to a sewage system is very important.  2 inches is the normal recommendation.  You want to be sure that there is never a possibility of reverse siphoning (i.e. pulling sewage water into the household water if there is a malfunction).  Water can’t “jump” through air, so a simple air-gap drain eliminates this possibility completely.

My 15+ year old water softener has a solidified mass of salt in the bottom of the tank about 6″ thick.  What caused this; normal?  And what is the best method to remove it?  Can I disconnect it and take tank outside and turn it upside down?  I am cleaning it out due to junk in the tank and was advised to clean it out completely by water softener company.

Answer: A water softener refills water into the brine tank in order to make a brine solution that is used during automatic regeneration.  Over time, as the water level rises and recedes, salt pellets (or granules) in the tank can adhere to each other and cause the problem you are referring to.  This is a very prevalent problem when using a square brine tank, or brine tank without a salt platform (also called a salt grid).  It’s a good idea to have a round brine tank containing a salt platform – having this design helps to prevent this problem from occurring.  However, even with a round tank and grid, you can still occasionally find this problem.  We recommend that you should not fill your brine (salt) tank more than ½ full – this will help prevent the problem from occurring again in the future.

You can disconnect the brine tank, and take it outside for cleaning.  You might try a high pressure garden hose, but you will probably have to add hot water to the salt plug to dissolve it more readily.  Be careful if upending the tank – the walls of a brine tank are not very strong, and you do not want to damage the tank.

I occasionally turn my water off when we leave the house for several days in the winter months.  I have never turned my softener off and realize it tried to cycle with the water off.  Will this hurt the softener?  I wrote earlier about a red residue in the tank and wonder if this could have contributed to resin being deposited in the tank or not.  Thanks much.

Answer: This should not damage the water softener in any way.  When your water is turned off, pressure is maintained in your household piping until some water is used and pressure is relieved.  When the water softener goes into backwash (normally the first stage in a traditional down-flow water softener) the pressure is relieved - and from that point on the motor continues to turn – but nothing is really happening that effects the softener.  However, in the future, we would recommend that you by-pass the water softener and unplug the control.  When you return home, run the water softener through two sequential manual regenerations, and then you should be “good-to-go”.