Water Softener Maintenance
Water softener maintenance is mostly salt: keep the brine tank stocked with clean salt, break up any crust that forms, and clean out the tank when sludge builds up. Beyond that, Pentair recommends disinfecting the system at least once a year, and the resin may need a cleaner if your water has iron.
A softener that gets this little bit of attention keeps working for years. One that's ignored usually fails in a predictable way: hard water, no salt being used, or a brine tank full of water.
Maintenance checklist
| How often | Job |
|---|---|
| Monthly | Check the salt level and look for a bridge |
| Every few months | Test a kitchen tap for hardness |
| After a power outage | Reset the clock |
| Once a year | Sanitize the softener |
| When sludge builds up | Clean out the brine tank |
| If iron is present | Clean the resin with an iron-removing cleaner |
| When pressure drops | Change the pre-filter if you have one |
Tools and supplies
- Softener salt: pellets or clean crystals, not rock salt.
- A broom handle or long piece of wood for breaking up bridges.
- A bucket, a shop vac or scoop, and a scrub brush.
- Softener sanitizer or unscented household bleach, per your manual.
- A resin cleaner if your water has iron.
- Hardness test strips.
Steps
Cause 1: Check and fill the salt
Lift the lid once a month. Kinetico says to keep the brine tank about half to three-quarters full on medium or high salt settings, and about half full on low settings. Don't fill it to the top: Kinetico says filling the brine tank completely could cause the salt to bridge.
Use salt made for softeners. Pentair says not to use granulated or rock salt, and Kinetico warns that rock salt carries debris that can clog the softener. Learn how fast your household goes through a bag, and you'll know when something's wrong. Our salt guide and how much salt to use cover the details.
Cause 2: Break up salt bridges
A salt bridge is salt that has hardened together into a solid clump, often a crust with an empty space underneath. The brine water can't reach the salt above it, so no brine forms and the softener quietly stops softening. Push a broom handle down through the salt. If it stops hard partway down, you've found a bridge. Break it up gently so you don't punch through the tank wall. See salt bridge in a water softener.
Humid basements make bridges worse, and so does topping off a nearly full tank every week.
Cause 3: Clean the brine tank
Over time, insoluble grit from the salt settles into a mushy layer at the bottom. When you see it, let the salt run low, put the softener in bypass, scoop or vacuum out the old salt and sludge, scrub the tank, rinse it, and refill with fresh salt. Pentair's manual says the brine refill water has to come above the grid plate and touch the salt, so put any grid back in place. Our step-by-step brine tank cleaning guide walks through it.
Cause 4: Sanitize once a year
Pentair says to disinfect a softener at least once a year. Penn State notes bacteria and fungi can grow in softeners, and that periodic cleaning with chlorine bleach is one option, after checking the manufacturer's instructions.
Check those instructions first for a reason. Pentair warns that sanitizing can add chlorine compounds that shorten resin life, and says to check the resin maker's specification. Use the product and the dose your manual names. If the treated water starts tasting or smelling off, Pentair says to have the dealer sanitize the system.
Cause 5: Clean the resin if you have iron
Colorless dissolved iron comes out in the softener, but iron that has been exposed to air or chlorine clogs the resin. Commercial resin cleaners are made for this. Res-Up and similar softener cleaners are sold for this job. Follow the label for where it goes, how much to use and how often. If piping is clogged with iron, Pentair says a separate iron filter should go ahead of the softener. When cleaning stops helping, the resin needs replacing. See resin cleaning and replacement.
Cause 6: Clean the injector
If the softener stops drawing brine, Pentair's troubleshooting table lists a plugged injector screen as one cause. On a Fleck 5600SXT, the injector sits in an injector body held to the control valve by two screws. Put the unit in bypass, unplug it, relieve the pressure, then remove the injector cap and screen, rinse the screen and blow through the nozzle and throat. Lubricate O-rings with silicone only. If you're not comfortable taking the valve apart, this is a short service call.
Cause 7: Check the settings after outages
Pentair says outages longer than 8 hours may lose the time setting on its valves. A wrong clock means regenerations at the wrong time. Set it, and confirm the hardness setting still matches your last water test.
Mistakes to avoid
- Filling the tank to the brim, which invites bridges.
- Rock salt or cheap granulated salt.
- Bleach in the brine tank without checking the manual.
- Ignoring a brine tank that won't stop filling. That's a valve or clog problem, covered in brine tank full of water.
When to call for service
Call a water treatment pro or a plumber if you've cleaned the injector and the unit still won't draw brine, if the water tastes salty, or if the softener isn't using any salt. Pentair's user guide says only qualified people should do maintenance on its valves, or the warranty may be void, so check your warranty before you take the valve head apart.
Service contracts are an option if you'd rather not do any of this. HomeAdvisor puts annual maintenance contracts at $100 to $300 a year, covering inspection, flushing, cleaning and salt refills. HomeGuide's figure for yearly maintenance is similar, $100 to $300 or more.
FAQ
How do you clean a water softener?
Clean the brine tank when sludge builds up, sanitize the system about once a year, and use a resin cleaner if your water has iron. Use the products and doses your manual names.
How do you sanitize a water softener?
Pentair recommends disinfecting at least once a year. Penn State says chlorine bleach is one option, but check the manufacturer's instructions first, since chlorine can shorten resin life.
How do I clean a Rheem water softener?
The same jobs apply: keep the salt clean, clean the brine tank and use a softener cleaner if you have iron. Check the Rheem owner's manual for the cleaner and dose it names, and follow that label rather than mixing products.
How often should a water softener be serviced?
Check salt monthly and sanitize once a year. If you'd rather hand it off, a maintenance contract covers inspection, cleaning and salt.
Sources
- PentairFleck 5600SXT Downflow Service Manual (opens in a new tab)
- Penn State ExtensionWater Softening (opens in a new tab)
- KineticoRefill Your Water Softener Salt (opens in a new tab)
- PentairFleck 5600 SXT User Guide (opens in a new tab)
- HomeGuideHow Much Does a Water Softener Cost? (opens in a new tab)
- HomeAdvisorHow Much Does Water Softener Installation Cost? (opens in a new tab)