softener-rig_12

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 05:52:55 -0600

Because I started this task late Saturday afternoon, in my haste I forgot to grab any photos of the work. The job was to clean the softener brine tank which, I've since learned, is something I should have been doing a whole lot more frequently..DUH strikes again.

I wound up at this point because after changing the pre and post filters last week, the water hardness was a lot higher than in the past and one of the reasons is typically, a brine tank that has created a "salt bridge". These solid laters of salt, dirt, water, and other gunk will reduce the amount of salt exposed to fresh water which reduces the concentration of the brine and thus, the effectiveness of the softener.

Talk about an ugly job. I scooped out the good salt with a small plastic bucket and filled six or seven five gallon buckets then, using a colander, I scooped out and drained the rest of the gunk which filled four MORE buckets! Those went into the trash.

Cleaned the tank and the filling mechanism attached tuit, reassembled, put the good salt back in the tank then, waited for the softener to fill the brine tank with water so I could see the level. It was right below the top of the salt so I added one more 40lb bag to get the salt three inches above the water level which is the recommended amount. Finally, I put it in regen mode, stowed the tools and chidt, cleaned up, and called it a day.

Got up the next morning and the first thing I did was wash my hands in the laundry room sink to see how slippery the water felt and, how easily suds were produced. It felt noticeably better, suds were immediate but sadly, when I tested the TDS, the number hadn't gone down a bit. DAMMIT!

The last thing to try will be to replace the resin. Very hard water can degrade the resin beads much more quickly and I replaced it five years ago. (It had been TEN years since the original installation.) That turns out to be the suggested frequency for brine tank cleaning in locations where water is extremely hard and ours is off the charts.

Consequently, I have ordered new resin and carbon media and I will change them out this week.

But if that doesnt yield substantially softer water, the only remaining option is to upgrade the system to one that can provide about twice the ionizing I have now. Great, just what I need, another big expenditure..NOT! We'll see.