I recently moved into a new home with a softening system.  It has duel tanks,  my kitchen and one bath have very soft water but my master bath has harder water.  Is there any way to adjust this to have softer water for the shower?

Answer:  If there is only one water softening system in the home, and also assuming that all the rooms are piped with softened water, then all the water would be of the same quality.  It may be that the master bath you are referring to (for some reason) is supplied with untreated water that does not pass through your water softener.  It would appear that the only way to trouble shoot this problem is to trace your piping and make sure that this room (both hot & cold) is on a softened water line.

By the way, some water softeners are equipped with a “bleed valve” that will allow for some hard water to enter the system, and mix with softened water – this allows for some control over the degree of hardness.  But this is not the case in your situation, and this adjustment would effect the entire house, not just one room.

I have an 18 year old Kinetico waterplant. It is a twin tank softener with built in RO filter for drinking water. The water pressure in our house (coming out of the softener) has decreased considerably and I am told that the Kinetico system needs to be replaced because the resin in mush and restricts the water flow. They sent a sales person to sell me a new system. Can I replace the resin and revive this old system?  I have just replaced the RO membrane and carbon filter.

Answer:  Sorry for the delay in replying – we missed this one!  In any case, yes you can just replace the resin.  Take a look at replacement resin on our Chemicals, Resin & Filter Media page – the Sybron C-249 is similar material as to what is in your Kinetico softener.  You may also need to replace the gravel found on the bottom of each tank.  This gravel acts as a distributor system, and makes sure that water flows evenly through the resin bed.  A 50 pound bag of gravel (garnet) is also available on this page.  The amount you require depends on the size of your water softener, but typically 15 to 25 pounds is placed into each tank, with the resin placed on the top.  If you can let us know the capacity (size) of your unit, we will be pleased to let you know how much resin and gravel you will need.  If you don’t know the size, just measure the tank diameter and height (from the floor to the point at which it meets the control valve), and we can tell the size from that information.

After our water softener regenerates the bathroom faucet & shower have air in the water lines for the first few minutes after running. What causes this? I don’t think it’s hurting anything, but the sputtering sure is annoying.

Answer: There are a few possibilities, but the most common one is an air leak in the brining system.  When your water softener regenerates, it draws brine (saturated salt) solution into the resin tank to perform the ion exchange process.  Occasionally, an air leak develops in the brine tubing connections, or in the brine valve/float assembly found inside of the brine well (tube) attached to the inside of the brine (salt) tank.  When the water softener regenerates, it draws water into the resin tank, but it can also draw air into the system if there is a small leak in one of these locations.  If there is a larger air leak, you may see a substantial amount of water on top of the salt, filling half of the brine tank.  But in this case, regeneration would not occur at all, as no brine solution would ever be drawn into the softener and you would always just have hard water.  Our company site has a document available called “Resolving an air leak” to trouble shoot this problem on the “Equipment Installation” page.

There are other valves & seals that may also be causing the problem, but this would take some diagnostic work to find the source of the problem, and it may be a good idea to find a local service person that can assist you with locating the leak.

If this is an on-site well application, there is also the possibility that the air leak is coming from a pressure tank or valve on a submersible pump.  A water softener uses a high water flow rate during regeneration, and this higher than normal flow may give rise to air in the pipes that would not normally be noticed.  It’s hard to confirm this, better to first investigate the softener for problems.

Water is flowing through my softner with an Autotrol 255/460i control. It does not feel soft and salt does not appear to be used from the salt storage tank.  The softner is connected properly. There are only 2 people in the house.

Answer: We are assuming that you do not have soft water, and there is some problem with the function of the unit.  Have you tried to depress the “pointer knob” that is found on the front of the control?  This will initiate an immediate manual regeneration.  The process takes about 1 1/2 hours to complete.  If after the manual regeneration, softened water returns, then you will want to find out why the unit was not providing softened water automatically.  First, look in the brine (salt) tank.  If there is a visible amount of water on top of the salt bed, this may indicate an air leak.  You will find instruction on how to resolve an air leak problem on our company site under “Equipment Installation“.

Another reason that your softener may not be functioning is the possibility of salt bridging.  A “salt bridge” is when the salt pellets adhere together after repeated regenerations, and a void space is formed beneath the top salt level that would lead to salt not being dissolved to saturation in the brine solution, and incomplete regeneration.  To see if this problem exists, remove the salt from the brine tank, clean out the tank and brine tank components well with fresh water – and refill with new salt.

The unit may also not be metering.  To see if this is the case, run water so that it passes through the softener, and see if you note a flashing LED appearing between the digital numerals displaying time.  If there is no flashing LED, check to make sure the meter sensor is properly connected to the valve (follow the cable coming from the 460i module to find the connection location in the rear of the valve).  If the sensor is connected, it may be that the turbine inside the valve is not turning due to a foreign obstruction – you would need to take the softener out of service, and inspect the turbine for proper operation – it should spin freely and very easily.

There are other possibilities, like a defective timer motor – or sticking valves – look for this problem when you initiate the manual regeneration mentioned above.  You may simply have a damaged resin bed – this is a possibility if you have city water that is heavily chlorinated – high concentrations of chlorine can shorten the life of cation exchange resin.  Hope this helps!

My water softener does not shut off.  It is in regeneration and won’t stop, it has been running for over 12 hours.

Answer:  There are a few possible causes for this, and determining the cause and possible repair will depend on first identifying what type of control is used in your water softener.  However, a common problem is that deposits (scale – hardness) buildup over time on valves or seals contained within your control, and these valves/seals can become lodged into position.  The motor that runs your control through regeneration tries to advance the process -  but can’t – as the valves/seals are frozen into place.  If you have an electrical based softener control, we would recommend that you unplug it, as leaving it plugged in will only place strain on the motor.

Another possibility is that the motor that drives this process is burned out.  This does not necessarily mean that simply replacing the motor will resolve the problem, as the seals/valves we discussed above may have become stuck, and the load placed on the motor may have also burned it out.  You may still need to replace the valves and/or seals.

There are other possibilities, but these are the common ones. If you have a by-pass installed, you should by-pass the softener until the problem is resolved. With most units, seals/valves and timer motors can be replaced, and we would suggest that you contact a local service technician to resolve this problem. If you intend to repair the unit yourself, and know what parts you require, please let us know.  We may carry them, or can refer you to a company that does.

I  have a 17 year old ECOWATER Economax that was working until a few weeks ago.  We have been regening it by hand moving the timers to backwash for 12 min, brine slow rinse 24 min and fast rinse 6 min.  Salt appears to being sucked out of the tank.  This all was fine until recently. Any ideas why there is no soft water?

Answer:  You may have some internal by-pass in the valve or riser tube that is causing this problem, but this is unlikely unless you have dissembled the unit recently. If you are manually performing the regeneration process, and also confirming that brine solution is being drawn into the resin tank, then it’s possible that your resin bed is damaged.  If you’re using municipal water, higher chlorine levels that may be in the water supply can shorten the lifetime of a water softener’s resin bed.  If you source is a on-site well, high levels of iron, manganese, sediment, or other contaminants can also lead to bed failure.  If you do need new resin, you can find replacement resin one our “Chemicals, Resin & Filter Media” page.  There may also be gravel contained at the bottom of your resin tank, and you should replace this with fresh material.  You can find gravel on this page as well.  If you decide to re-bed your unit, feel free to contact us for directions on how to do this.

In any case, water softeners are durable goods- and last a long time – but after 17 years, it is probably just about time to replace the unit.  Rebuilding the water softener may cost you almost as much as the price of a new one.

We have a Culligan 812.  A few weeks ago we added salt.  After a few days, the water was still not quite right.  When I lifted the lid I saw that water was on top of the salt.  Normally all I would be able to see would be salt.  I checked the floater, its 1/2 way down the tube where I told it should be.  Our water is hard, but we are able to get some lather, but I don’t want to wash whites, and my hair is a mess.  Any suggestions to what the problem may be?  Thanks so much.

Answer:  Your softener is not drawing brine (salt) solution into the resin bed during regeneration.  Fresh water refill is part of a regeneration process, and water was placed into the tank with each regeneration.  If water is not also drawn out during regeneration (as seems to be the case here), then the water level will rise.  Your safety float has probably shut off further fresh water refill (when an excessively high water level was reached) to prevent brine tank overflow onto the floor.

This question has been asked in the past – just go to the “Archives” section (right side column) and click on “September 2007”.  The post is titled “Brine tank question”.  You’ll find suggestions on how to repair the problem there, but let us know if you have any other questions.

We just had a new water softener installed. When I run the water thru the tap, I can see small particles in it. When I run the dishwater, the water is so frothy that I thought we accidentally put in too much soap. The dishes are not clean, and there is a small visible deposit on the glasses. I thought we were going to get clean water. Is it possible to program how much salt the water softener puts in? Any suggestions on what I should ask the installers?

Answer:  You mention that you see small particles in the tap water – are these particles visible when you fill a glass with water?  The reason for this question is that you might be seeing air bubbles due to a leaky fitting or appliance.  If these are bubbles, they will quickly dissipate when the glass is left standing.  If the particles are white to grey in color, it may be due to scale being removed from your household piping.  A water softener removes scale (magnesium and calcium) and these deposits that were present on your piping before the water softener was installed will slowly be exchanged back into the water.  This reversal of the scale deposition process will eventually clean the deposits from your piping – although it is a very slow process – and if this is what is occurring, you should stop seeing substantial amounts of particulate soon.  If the particles you are seeing are tan, brown, or black in color, then this is likely due to cation exchange resin coming from the water softener.  This can happen when the softener is plumbed incorrectly (with the inlet and outlet connections reversed), however, this would be a very unlikely occurrence if the water softener was professionally installed.

Regarding the deposit on your glasses, this may due to soap, salt, or scale (hardness) from your piping.  If the deposit is due to soap, it would be easily washed off – just use less soap.  If it is due to higher levels of sodium in your water, these spots would also be able to be washed off easily – talk to your installer about how to resolve this problem.  If it’s due to scale being removed from your piping, the problem will slowly be reduced as you piping is cleaned.  Of course, all of this assumes that the water softener is functioning properly.  You can ask the installers to confirm the treated water quality to be sure the unit is working correctly. 

As mentioned above, a water softener removes hardness (along with some iron and manganese that may be present) from your water.  The presence of hardness in your water is what requires the use of greater amounts of detergents.  When the hardness is removed from your water, the soap does not have to “work” as hard, and you are able to use much less.  If you are using the same amount of soap to clean you dishes and clothing, you will see the “frothy” water condition that you note in your message. Use about 1/2 as much soap when cleaning, and you should be fine. 

On many water softeners you are able to adjust the amount of salt used during the regeneration process, but changing this value will affect the water softener’s capacity to remove hardness.  In addition, reducing the amount of salt used during regeneration will probably not have any effect on the level of sodium contained in your water.  If the level is set too high, then it should be reduced to avoid wasting salt.  A typical salt dosage is around 9 pounds/ft3 cation exchange resin,  but the proper setting can be higher or lower depending on the type of softener and water quality.  The amount of sodium in your water will always about 7 ppm per grain of hardness – not noticeable at normal hardness levels – but may require the use of a resin that allows for low salt dosage, or possible a specially designed water softener at very high hardness levels.

We have an Ecowater 3000 softener system. 10 years old. The regen. tube drains into our drain behind our washing machine where the actual softener is in the garage. Anyway, it now has a constant drip. Water just used to flow during the regen. cycle. Now there is a constant drip. Any idea why and how it can be fixed? Trying to avoid an expensive repair call. Thanks.

Gina

Answer: Gina, See Kirt’s comment to your post (below) – he is correct – Thanks Kirt!

The owners manual of my equipment (professional carpet cleaning system) says this:

“Hard water deposits will adversely affect the plumbing and heat exchange system on the XT Cleaning System.  Water supply obtained from a well is almost always hard water. In all cases, using softened water will protect the equipment and help ensure maximum performance and service life. If you are operating in an area where the water  hardness exceeds 3-1/2 grains, ATMI highly recommends the use of soft water. Using  soft water will reduce maintenance and decrease down time caused by hard water scaling. It will also allow cleaning chemical to be more effective in lower concentrations.”

I am located north of Tampa in Hernando County and I am currently on the city water system. I might be going to a well system in the future. What system would be best for each situation? I have a 600-1000 gallon daily requirement for conditioned water.

Answer: After looking at the specs for your system, it appears that the cleaning equipment is truck mounted with an on-board 210 gallon storage tank for fresh water.  There are two ways to approach this.  You can mount the the water softener on the truck, and regenerate the unit in the evening when you return to the shop.  This allows you to refill your storage tank using water from your customer’s hose bibs throughout the day as required.  The other way is to permanantly mount the softener in the shop, but doing this would require that you return to the shop to top off your storage tank as needed.

Using Tampa area water, you should be fine with a water softener with a capacity of 48,000 grains.  Consider our WS1S softener(Autotrol 255/440i) timer based system for this application.  Let us know if you have any other questions.