So, You own a Water Softener…
When a car runs out of gas the engine stalls and things come to halt. When a Water Softener runs out of Salt a very similar thing happens. The Water Softener stops cleaning itself properly and stops treating the Water. If you have a Water Softener to remove Iron or Manganese it will become obvious that the Brine Tank is empty because you will see the Staining return very soon. If you are treating for Hardness it might take a little longer to show. However you will notice that the shower Water loses it’s silky feeling right away.
Running out of Softener Salt on a regular basis can be very bad for your Water Softener Resin. The electrolytes in Softener Resin can’t sustain long term abuse. It’s sort of like letting a car battery go dead over, and over again. It just won’t last very long that way, and the solution will be expensive.
Simply adding Salt to the Brine Tank is not enough to get your Softener working properly again. It is also necessary to recharge the Softener Resin by manually initiating a Regeneration Cycle. This procedure should be outlined in you Operators Manual.
You will probably notice that the water in the Brine Drum comes up higher than normal when you run out of Salt. When you add the Salt to all that extra water you will dissolve more Salt than you normally would. That’s okay, because your Softener can probably use the extra recharge all of that Salt will deliver. Just don’t be alarmed if the Water tastes a bit Salty. If that happens don’t be alarmed, just run a cold water faucet for a while until the water tastes normal again. If you have an RO (Reverse Osmosis System) you won’t have to be concerned about the potential Salty taste at all.
The best solution to keeping a full Brine Tank is to keep a log on a clip board next to the Water Treatment Equipment. Make a note every time you check the Water Treatment System, whether you need to do something or not. Over time you will develop a good Maintenance pattern based on your previous log entries.
As far as how much salt to keep in the Brine Drum is concerned, that really depends on your individual water quality and usage. Salt can go hard over a long period of time especially if exposed to high Humidity. It is not a good idea to run out of Salt, or to over fill the Brine Tank either. Keeping a log will help you to overcome this dilemma.
So until next time keep a log, don’t run out of Salt, and enjoy your great water!
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