How much water should typically be stored in the brine tank (salt tank)?  My tank is half full and the water level is 3-4 inches above the top of the salt.  Is this right?

Answer: The amount of water normally found in the brine tank depends on your salt setting.  3 pounds of salt dissolve into 1 gallon of water.  For example, a setting of 12 pounds would mean that 4 gallons of water would be in the tank (12 pounds at 3 pounds per gallon = 4 gallons).  The water level in the brine tank will vary to some degree as the amount of salt in the tank displaces the water, and makes the level difficult to predict.  The best way to determine if your water softener is functioning is to manually regenerate the unit.  During the “brine draw” stage, look closely at the water in the brine tank.  During brine draw almost all of the water in the tank should be slowly drawn into the resin tank, and in the last stage of regeneration, the brine tank will be refilled to the previous level.  If you do not see the water level go down, then you might have an air leak, plugged injector, restriction in your drain line – there are many possible causes of your problem.  You mention that your brine tank is 1/2 full of water, and this sounds like your safety float has shut off the refill process to prevent overflow.  This is a typical sign of water softener failure, but try the above suggestion, and see if your unit is functioning correctly.  If this is a new installation, then it is possible that an air leak is the cause. Visit www.caitechnologies.com and enter the online store.  Under the services menu you will find an equipment installation section.  There is a document on the page that will explain how to resolve an air leak.

I need to replace a WaterBoss 900. My water has a compensated hardness of 17, including 0.9 iron. There are four in the home and we are rather water conservative. Pipe is 3/4″ PVC to 1/2″ PVC. Drain would be 40-50 feet away, either into a sump or into a septic system (finally entering waste pipe at a height of about six feet, after going up to nine feet)

What would you recommend with a Fleck or Clack valve? What size softener? How often must I regenerate? I am considering the Econominder 5600 or WS-1.

Answer: We are assuming that you iron is present in dissolved (clear-water ferrous) form, and not as particulate (red-water ferric). If this is the case, then you can consider a 48,000 grain water softener. A metered (on demand) water softener in this size will regenerate (on average) every 7 days in your application, which is sufficiently frequent enough given your lower level of iron. You do not require a resin that will better remove iron (like a fine mesh), but you may want to add a drip feeder to your unit if you like – this will help to remove the accumulated iron from your water softener bed. This is a gravity drip feeder that installs into a water softener brine tank – it drips phosphoric acid solution into the salt (commonly available under brand names like Res-Up, Pro-Res, and others). This material aids in cleaning the bed of accumulated iron during the regeneration process. The drip feeder and a case of solution (4 one gallon containers) is available for $90.00 delivered at www.caitechnologies.com – enter the Water Treatment Systems area, and click on the “Media & Parts” drop-down under the Online Store menu, and then select the “Chemicals, Resin & Filter Media” category. Just scroll down the page to the “Water Treatment Chemicals” section, and click on the drop down arrow. You will use about a 12 fluid ounces per month (0.4 oz/day), and a case quantity will last you approximately 3 years.

As mentioned, you could go with a 48,000 grain sized softener (1.5 ft3) – just be sure to set the calendar override feature for an automatic regeneration every 8 to 10 days. Calendar override can be set to insure that your softener is regenerating on a regular basis (any microprocessor metered unit we offer has this feature), to keep the softener resin bed in good condition. The way this works is that if your softener does not meter enough water usage to automatically regenerate as set, it will force a regeneration and override the metering function. The control will regenerate after the amount of days entered, and will then consider the day of regeneration as “day 0″ and again start metering your water usage automatically. Regular regeneration is a good thing if iron levels are elevated.

Regarding the Fleck 5600 Econominder – it’s a good valve – but take a look at the 5600SE – this is the microprocessor version of the control. Easier to set up, and has more available features. We offer both the Econominder (our model WS4C) and SE version (our model WS4M) online at http://www.caitechnologies.com – enter the Water Treatment Systems area, and click on the “Metered Water Softener” drop-down under the Online Store menu.

The Clack WS1 is a great valve, and we recommend it highly (our model WS7SM-HC), but you mention that you have 3/4 inch piping. The WS1 is a 1 inch valve – and will work fine in your application – but you may not be able to take full advantage of the higher flow rate and lower pressure drop that a 1 inch valve can provide. You can also take a look at the our model WS1LM (Autotrol Logix 255/762). This valve is similar to the Clack valve in available information, and is 3/4 inch. Hope this helps!

I have rust stains and etching in my toilets. I have a water softener that uses sodium for regeneration. Why is this happening? How do I stop it and remove the rust stains.

Answer: A few things may be happening; either your unit is only intermittently functioning, not functioning at all, or the level of iron in your water exceeds what the softener is designed to remove. A water softener will remove scale (calcium and magnesium) as well as some levels of iron and manganese. The etching that you mention may not be not due to the water softener at all – it is probably due to a low pH – this problem would be corrected by either a backwashing calcite based neutralizer, or chemical injection system. Determining what system would be best for correcting pH would depend on the level of TDS (total dissolved solids) in your water.

It’s difficult to provide additional information without knowing more specifics regarding your problem. If the cause of your problem is due to a mechanical malfunction, you best recourse is to contact the manufacturer of your softener, and ask them to work with you to identify the cause of the problem. If for some reason you are not able to reach the manufacturer of your system, you can visit our site at www.caitechnologies.com and send us an email with more details about your brand/model softener and specifics of the problem, and we will try and help you out if possible. If you have a water analysis available, we would be pleased to recommend a pH correction system suitable for your use (assuming that you need to correct pH). If you would like a free analysis, just visit on Free Water Analysis page to find out how to sample and where to send your water for analysis.

By the way, a good way to remove the stains in your toilet bowl (and not scratch the porcelain) is to find a professional janitorial supply – there they will have a “pumice” stone in stick form – with a little “elbow grease” you can remove the staining. Hope this helps!

I recently shock chlorinated the well at my residence. Being a novice, I did not bypass my Kenmore water softener, which is now not working. I have removed and cleaned the inlet screens and valve, to no avail. Do you suspect the resin is damaged beyond repair from the chlorine, or could I have a buildup of rust/sediment elsewhere?

Answer: Although most water softener resin is resistant to chlorine attack, the type of resin used in your softener is not completely impervious, and indeed, you may have damaged your resin. This said, periodic shocking of your well normally does not have too negative of an effect on the performance of a water softener, at least not to the extent that it suddenly stops working. Unless you noted reduced softener performance prior to this incident, damage due to chlorine attack of the cation exchange resin may not be the cause.

When you shocked your well, you oxidized any iron, manganese, or sulfur that was present, and these insoluble materials may have deposited in your resin bed. These deposits might also have plugged your injector and caused the failure. Try removing the injector and cleaning it with fresh water – this may resolve the problem. If your bed is contaminated, there is not much to do other than replacing the resin or the complete water softener. Replacement resin is available on our internet Chemicals page, and if you need to replace the softener, you can consider some of our units on our Metered Water Softeners page.

What is the name of the product used to dissolve resin that has leaked out of the water softener tank and clogged household pipes? I understand you can pour it directly into the tank.

Answer: There is no product available (that we are aware of) that can be added to potable water to dissolve water softener resin. Water softener resin is made of a plastic (polystyrene & divinylbenzene), and basically unaffected by most chemicals. Addition of a chemical powerful enough to effect the structural integrity of the resin, would only break-down the resin (not dissolve it entirely), and possibly cause additional clogging. Also, any chemical powerful enough to do this would have a very negative effect on piping and fixtures, as well as being very dangerous to handle.

The only way to resolve your problem is to run your water at a very high flow rate, for instance, by running a bathtub at full volume. You can also drain your hot water heater if resin has entered the hot water line (Caution: be sure to follow proper water heater manufacturer instructions for draining your hot water heater – this water is hot and under pressure!). Be patient, it normally takes a number of weeks to completely clear the line of resin.

One note; under normal operation, resin should not have entered the household water supply piping. Check to be sure that the water softener’s inlet and outlet are connected to the correct in/out water supply lines. If you have an older water softener, it may be possible that the resin has degraded enough to pass though the basket (screen) found on the bottom of the riser tube in the center of the resin bed. If so, the resin will need to be replaced – replacement resin is available at our site on the Chemical, Resin, & Filter Media page. It is also possible that the basket is damaged, and allowing the resin to pass through. In this case you would need to replace the riser, and a new riser can be purchased on our site as well on the Tank and Tank Parts page.

What can I use in our softener drains to keep them running free?

Answer: It is important for proper water softener function to keep the drain lines free of any obstruction or restricted flow. This is because during the brine (salt solution) draw process, a water softener creates a vacuum using a venturi in the control valve. The venturi creates a vacuum when a high flow of water rushes past it on the way to the drain. If this flow is restricted in any way, the vacuum may not be strong enough to draw the brine solution into the softener, and a full regeneration may not occur.

Be sure to use a minimum of ½” inside diameter tubing when running your drain line. Some larger 1 inch and 1.25 inch residential water softeners require 3/4 inch ID tubing. If you plan to use flexible tubing, make sure that its heavy wall polyethylene (½” ID x 5/8” OD). Some installations use rigid PVC or copper piping for a drain line. Using rigid piping eliminates the possibility that crimping of a flexible line may occur – crimping may restrict water flow – and must be avoided. One note; do not place any type of sediment filter in your drain line. An inline filter may also restrict flow, and should not be used.

Last, be sure that you connect your drain line to drain using an air-gap. An air-gap fitting is similar to a washing machine drain connection – it provides a “gap” of air that will prevent reverse siphoning of waste water into your water softener from your sewer system.

I have an outside wood fired boiler that is leaking now after 14 years of service. The service man won’t replace it till I do something with my hard water (and the water in our area is bad). Test results are below:

Iron – 3 ppm
Nitrate – 0 ppm
Copper – 1.3 ppm
Alkalinity 120 ppm
pH – 9 standard units
Hardness – 25 grains per gallon

What is the best course of action for me to take? Do I need a softener and an Iron filter? What about ph and alkalinity? Any help would be much appreciated. Paul

Answer: We are assuming that your iron is present in dissolved (ferrous) form. In other words, your water initially runs clear when drawn from the tap, and only develops color (normally red or brown) after some time. If this is the case, then you will need to correct your pH with a chemical injection system, and also install a water softener downstream to resolve the iron and hardness problem.

High pH will, over time, corrode the inside of your boiler, and it should be corrected with a citric acid feed. A typical system injects citric acid between your well pump and pressure tank. This method of injecting citric acid allows the chemical injection system to always inject solution into a fixed rate of water flow – the injection system only operates when your well pump is running. To view a general diagram of a chemical injection system visit our company site, and take a look at our Chemical-Feed-Systems page.

A cartridge type sediment filter should be installed after your pressure tank to remove any sediment contained in your water. It is also possible that some of the iron contained in your water may fall out of solution as “red-water” ferric iron after your ph is reduced, and this filter will remove it and protect a downstream water softener.

Finally, a water softener should be installed to remove hardness and iron. While a single tank softener will work in this application, you may want to consider a twin tank water softener. The advantage of using a twin tank is that that a twin tank softener always has a regenerated “stand-by” tank ready to go online when the set capacity of the in-use tank is exhausted. A twin tank unit also provides a continuous “round-the-clock” supply of soft water and regenerates using pre-treated water – an advantage when elevated levels of iron are present. Selecting the correct softener for your application depends on your pipe diameter, and number of resident in your home. You can find more information on this topic on our Selecting-The-Correct-Sized-Water-Softener page.

You may also want to install a gravity drip feeder into the water softener brine tank – a feeder will gravity drip a phosphoric acid mixture solution into the salt (commonly available under the brand names “Res-Up”, “Pro-Res Care”, and others). Phosphoric acid aids in cleaning the bed of accumulated iron during the regeneration process. You can get one of these with a case of phosphoric acid at www.caitechnologies.com – enter the Water Treatment Systems area, and click on the “Media & Parts” drop-down under the Online Store menu, and then select the “Chemicals, Resin & Filter Media” category. Just scroll down the page to the “Water Treatment Chemicals” section, and click on the drop down arrow. You will use about a 12 fluid ounces per month (0.4 oz/day), and a case quantity will last you approximately 3 years. Please let us know if you have any other questions.