Brine Tank Full of Water

Is the water level actually too high?

That depends on the type of brine tank you have.

Older softeners often use a "wet" brine tank, which holds water all the time. SpringWell says a wet tank should keep 3 to 6 gallons, or 6 to 10 inches, of water after regeneration, depending on the maker's instructions. Newer softeners mostly use a "dry" tank, and SpringWell says a dry tank should have no water in it between or after regeneration cycles.

So on a wet-tank softener, water several inches up from the bottom is normal. The problem is a tank where the water sits well above the salt, keeps climbing, or comes out of the overflow fitting onto the floor. If you also have hard water or salty-tasting water, that points the same way.

A quick way to see the level: push a broom handle down along the brine well (the tube that holds the float) and look at where it comes up wet. Salt often hides the waterline.

Why the brine tank fills up: likely causes

The Whirlpool and Fleck manuals list nearly the same causes for this symptom. Here they are in the order you should check them.

1. 1

   Cause 1: Plugged or kinked drain line

   During regeneration the softener sends brine through the resin and out the drain line. If that line is kinked, crushed or clogged, the brine can't leave, and the water stays in the salt tank. Whirlpool says the drain hose must not have kinks, sharp bends or anything blocking flow. It also warns against hose runs longer than 30 feet or lifts more than 8 feet above the floor.

   Fleck lists a plugged drain line flow control (a small restrictor in the drain fitting) as a cause. Mineral scale or resin fines can close it up.

2. 2

   Cause 2: Clogged injector (nozzle and venturi)

   The injector is what sucks brine out of the tank. It works like a tiny siphon, and a little sediment or salt grit in its tiny holes stops it cold. A plugged injector or screen is on Fleck's list, and Whirlpool tells you to take apart, clean and inspect the nozzle and venturi. On well water with iron or sediment, open this one first.

3. 3

   Cause 3: Drain line and overflow line tied together

   This one is an install mistake. If someone joined the valve drain hose and the brine tank overflow hose with a tee, Whirlpool says to disconnect the tee and run separate drain lines. The drain flow backs up into the overflow and fills the tank.

4. 4

   Cause 4: Dirty or stuck brine float

   The float in the brine well shuts off refill water at a set level. Whirlpool lists a dirty or broken brine float as a cause, and Fleck lists foreign material in the brine valve. Salt mush or debris can jam it open, and then the tank overfills every cycle.

5. 5

   Cause 5: Low (or very high) water pressure

   The injector needs pressure to draw brine. Whirlpool says to raise well pump output to at least 20 psi if pressure is low, and to add a pressure-reducing valve if daytime pressure runs over 100 psi. On a well, check the pressure gauge during a regeneration, not just when the pump has caught up.

6. 6

   Cause 6: Timer, motor or valve fault

   If the valve never moves through its cycles, the brine never gets drawn. Fleck lists a timer that isn't cycling as a cause. A power outage that wiped the clock, or a stalled motor, can do the same thing. See water softener not regenerating for that path.

How to fix a brine tank full of water

Work through these in order.

1. Put the softener in bypass. Bail or siphon the extra water down to the normal level. SpringWell suggests a siphon pump or a turkey baster for the last bit.
2. Walk the drain hose from the valve to where it ends. Straighten kinks, check that it isn't crushed behind the unit, and make sure it ends with an air gap at the drain.
3. Clean the injector. Whirlpool's steps: bypass the softener, unscrew the injector cap, remove the screen, disc, gasket and flow plugs, wash them, and reassemble in order with a light coat of silicone grease on the O-ring, hand-tight only. GE adds that the holes in the gasket must line up with the holes in the housing.
4. Pull the brine line off and flush it. SpringWell says to clear it with water pressure or a plumbing snake.
5. Lift out the float assembly, rinse off salt and grit, and check that it moves freely.
6. If the bottom of the tank is full of salt sludge, empty it completely, scrub it and refill with high-purity salt. Our guide to cleaning a brine tank covers this step by step.
7. Run a manual regeneration and watch it. Whirlpool's test is simple: if the water level doesn't drop after a recharge, the problem isn't fixed.

NDSU Extension also recommends checking and cleaning the brine valve and float assembly as routine maintenance, so it's worth doing even if the problem turns out to be the drain.

When to call a water treatment pro

Call when the injector and drain are clean, pressure is fine, and the tank still fills. At that point it's usually internal valve seals, the piston or the motor, and Fleck's fixes for those involve replacing seals, spacers or the piston. It's also a pro call if the tank has cracked or you see resin beads in the brine tank.

HomeGuide puts typical water softener repairs at $150 to $600, with a national average of $430. A service call runs $40 to $100 before parts, and a replacement softener tank costs $150 to $500 without installation.