People commonly think that after installing a water softener, they don’t need to do anything and just let it be. Well, that is true, but don’t expect your water softening system to last for more than five years. To ensure you can reach the average to above-average lifespan, you need to know how to clean water softeners. Read on as we’ll show you exactly that, step-by-step. You’ll be off to clean a water softener effortlessly in no time!
How To Clean A Water Softener Resin Tank
The resin tank (also called the mineral tank) is where ion exchange happens, a process that turns hard water into softened water.
The water supply pumps the hardened water into the tank. The hard water passes through the water softener resin bed (made of tiny resin beads), which deposits the water-hardening calcium and magnesium for the ion exchange. The sodium ions in the resin beads then replace the calcium and magnesium ions (i.e., mineral ions) in the water. Then the water flows out of the water softener resin tank as soft water through your pipes and water-using appliances.
How often should you clean the resin tank?
Before we head on to the 5-step guide to deep cleaning your water softener resin tank, let’s find out how often you’ll need to do this. Often, your water softener system will come with manufacturer-recommended cleaning intervals. This can range from every three months to annually.
To be certain, you don’t need to clean a water softener every three months. Usually, annually will do. Exceptions to this rule will be the following:
- You suspect bacterial contamination. Warning signs of bacterial contamination in your resin tank are:
- A stinky, rotten egg smell from both your hot and cold water supply (If the smell is only coming from the hot water supply, the bacterial contamination could be coming from your water heater.);
- A change of colour in your water after running through the water softener system; and,
- A recent water test indicates your water supply might be contaminated.
- Your water softener has been shut down for a week or more. Especially if this happens due to a power outage in the winter, you’ll need to clean your resin tank to make sure it won’t suffer from freezing damage. If the system has been inactive for 6 months or more, water in the tank has now stagnated and needs to be flushed out before cleaning.
- You’ll have new resin installed in the resin tank. To make sure the tank is all set for the new water softener resin bed, you’ll need to do some deep cleaning beforehand.
Water softener resin bed
5 Steps To Clean A Water Softener’s Resin Tank
The steps below will guide you towards deep cleaning your water softener resin/mineral tank. This includes disinfecting to mitigate any bacterial contamination, as well as the bottom of an in-use brine tank. Take note that this doesn’t deep clean the brine tank. The guide for that will be in the next section.
TAKE NOTE: If your water softener uses potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride for the softening salt, your water softener settings may vary. Please check with the system’s installer or manufacturer before proceeding.
Step 1
Disconnect/turn off any other water treatment system temporarily.
If you’re unfamiliar with other systems installed in your place, you may contact your plumber or the water treatment company that installed it. If you’re not the original owner of the property, locate the system and look for any details that may help identify the installer.
Step 2
Run an extra manual regeneration cycle then add bleach to the brine tank.
Running the water softener through an extra regeneration cycle flushes out the system. This typically takes about two hours.
Now, this step assumes that there is water in your brine tank. If your brine tank is empty, pour 3 gallons of water into it.
The amount of household bleach you’ll pour will depend on your water softener size. For small water softeners, use 1-2 ounces of bleach. For large water softeners, use 4-5 ounces of bleach.
Once you’ve got the right amount of bleach, don’t pour it directly onto the salt in the brine tank. Doing so may lead to the bleach solution not dissolving uniformly into the brine. Instead, pour the bleach into the brine well.
TAKE NOTE: Don’t use more than the recommended amount of bleach mentioned in Step 2. Doing so will require you to run multiple extra regeneration cycles (Step 4) to completely flush out the bleach from your system.
Step 3
Run another normal or manual regeneration cycle.
Doing this will cycle the bleach water from the brine tank to the resin tank. The bleach will then make contact with the entirety of the tank for an hour (the typical amount of time for a regeneration cycle).
If you use the right recommended amount of bleach for your system, an hour will be enough to disinfect the mineral tank. If the regeneration cycle of your system is less than an hour, you can stop the cycle after it reaches the mineral tank then let the bleach sit for the complete one hour.
TAKE NOTE: Do not let the bleach sit for more than an hour in your system. Doing so may damage the resin beads in the tank.
Step 4
Run an extra manual regeneration cycle (similar to Step 2).
This step has the same instructions as the first half of Step 2. Setting the water softener to run an extra regeneration cycle will flush out the bleach disinfectant out of your softener system. This will typically take two hours to finish.
Step 5
Add salt to the brine/salt tank.
If you began the deep clean of your mineral tank with no salt in the brine tank, this is the time to put in a salt refill.
How To Clean A Water Softener Brine Tank
The water softener’s brine tank or salt tank is a smaller tank sitting next to the water softener resin tank. This small tank is full of salty water, which helps the water softening process in regeneration.
To be exact, the water softener brine tank holds the brine solution, which is a highly concentrated solution of salt (sometimes substituted with potassium chloride). To create the solution, the salt is added to the brine tank in the form of pellets or blocks. These are then dissolved in the water at the bottom of the brine tank to create the brine solution.
How often should you clean the brine tank?
Recommendations from manufacturers may vary, but in general, brine tanks only need to be deep cleaned once a year. So, no worries about spending dozens of weekends a year on a not-so-exciting chore.
However, if the salt pellets you’ve been using contain a lot of impurities (such as those sold in supermarkets, you may need to clean the brine tank more often than annually. That’s because these impurities can cause buildup in your water softener and cause it to malfunction. So, make sure to check you’re getting the highest purity salt pellets for your unit.
9 Steps To Clean A Water Softener’s Brine Tank
Before proceeding with this guide, make sure you won’t encounter a regeneration cycle while you’re cleaning the brine tank. If you’re uncertain when your water softener regenerates typically, turn off the electrical power to your softener.
The downside to the second option is that you’ll need to reset the time or clock of the water softener after cleaning. But this minor inconvenience will be better than interrupting your cleaning session with the softener’s backwash cycle.
Also, cleaning the water softener brine tank will require some more preparation of materials compared to the mineral tank guide. So, before you proceed, make sure you have the following on hand:
- A scoop for removing salt
- A long-handled brush
- 10 gallons of clean water
- 2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap
- 1/4 cup of bleach
- Warm or hot water (in case you encounter salt bridges)
TAKE NOTE: If your water softener uses potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride for the softening salt, your water softener settings may vary. Please check with the system’s installer or manufacturer before proceeding.
Step 1
Put your unit in Bypass Mode.
By putting your softening system in Bypass Mode, water will bypass your unit when you clean the tank. If you’re unsure how to activate this mode, check your manufacturer’s instructions.
Step 2
Disconnect all hoses/lines between the resin/mineral tank and the brine tank.
This step is essential to make sure the cleaning solution you’ll use on the brine tank won’t make its way to the resin/mineral tank.
Step 3
Remove all the salt, water, and other debris in the brine tank.
Dump/siphon out the water in the tank. Then, using a scoop, remove all the clean salt and set it aside in one container. You can still use this after cleaning the tank. If it’s all dirty salt, remove them using the scoop and discard. Some encrusted salt may be sticking to the side of the tank. You can use the scooper to gently scratch off the crusty remaining salt.
If the tank can be easily removed from the unit, you can tip the tank to its side to make this step easier.
In the case of a salt bridge, where one big block of salt blocks the remaining salt, you’ll need to use warm or hot water to dissolve the salt.
TAKE NOTE: Do not discard the salt and water on grass and plants. The high sodium content in the salt and water may kill your plants and destroy your lawn.
Step 4
Pull out the brine grid (if there is one).
This grid (i.e., grid plate or salt platform) will be the platform/screen you’ll see at the bottom of brine tanks if yours has one. This tool allows for more water to flow into the tank so enough brine solution can be made.
But not all water softeners will have this grid/platform. If that’s the case for yours, skip this step.
Step 5
Create a cleaning solution.
Pour 2 gallons of water and 2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap into the tank then mix. This will be your cleaning solution. Now, using the long-handled brush, scrub the inside of the tank thoroughly. Afterwards, dump the water, preferably straight into a drain.
Step 6
Create a disinfection solution.
To create the disinfection solution, pour 3 gallons of water and 1/4 cup of bleach into the tank then mix. Let this bleach solution sit for 30 minutes. Afterwards, dump 3/4 of the solution straight into a drain.
Using the long-handled brush, scrub the inside of the tank, making sure to scrub the remaining solution around the entire inside of the tank. Once done, dump the remaining solution and rinse the tank thoroughly with clean water.
Step 7
Reconnect all hoses/lines between the resin/mineral tank and the brine tank.
Make sure you’ll be placing the now clean brine tank appropriately back to its original place. Reconnect all lines you disconnected in Step 2, as well as any other hoses you’ve needed to disconnect to detach the tank.
Step 8
Take your unit out of Bypass Mode.
We’re essentially undoing what we did in Step 1. Again, if you’re unsure how to do this, please check your manufacturer’s instructions.
Step 9
Add new salt and clean water into the now clean brine tank.
Pour the remaining 5 gallons of clean water into the brine tank. As for the new salt, you’ll need to add at least 100 pounds (two 50-lb bags) of water softener salt pellets. It’s generally recommended to leave the salt level at about six inches below the tank’s rim.
Maintenance Tips To Keep Your Water Softener Healthy
On top of knowing how to thoroughly clean a water softener, performing simple maintenance can also lengthen the lifespan of water softeners. Here are easy-to-do maintenance tips you can do to keep your water softener healthy.
You can also find out whether your water softener needs repair or replacement in one of our previous posts.
Check For Salt Bridges
A salt bridge forms in the brine tank as a result of the combination of humidity and stagnant saltwater or brine water. Salt bridges appear as hard crust over the water in your brine tank.
When salt bridges, the water and salt can’t make contact as a space forms between them. If not removed, the water entering the bottom of your brine tank can’t reach the salt. Without salt to dissolve, brine won’t be made, and if there’s no brine, the resin bed of your water softener won’t be regenerated. This will result in hard water.
Check for a salt bridge by inserting a broom handle in the brine tank. If you come across an obstruction before you reach the bottom, it’s likely your salt has bridged.
To repair this, you’ll need to:
- Scoop out the loose salt until you reach the salt bridge.
- With a broom handle, break up the hardened salt.
- Lastly, add salt to the tank.
Make sure to regularly check and clean the tank as needed to keep your supply of soft water.
Use The Right Type Of Salt
As mentioned in the guide to cleaning the brine tank, using salts of poor quality is a possible culprit for water softener malfunctions. Also, each softening system will require a specific type of salt (e.g., crystals, pellets, cubes, and blocks).
Be sure to buy high-quality salts specifically made for your water softening unit. Often, the info on the specific type you need is included in your water softener manual. If you’re unable to find it, be sure to contact the unit manufacturer.
Having salts of poor quality and the wrong type can result in constant clogs, softening inefficiency, and motor malfunctions. So, make sure to check your salt usage and correct it as needed.
Replace A Damaged Water Softener Resin Bed
Resin beds can sometimes last the entire life of your water softener. But in some cases, a water softener resin bed can go bad before the unit itself needs to be replaced.
Once resin beads are damaged, you’ll need to have them replaced. You can do this yourself to save $150 in service fees. Alternatively, you can call on a plumber or a water softener technician to do it for you.
Check Your Unit’s Motor
When your water softening unit has insufficient drainage, a damaged motor is the likely culprit. The motor is responsible for automatically rotating the valve between softening mode and regenerating mode. So, if the motor is damaged, the entire water softener system can stop working.
To check on this, switch the water softener to manual regeneration mode. You can check your unit’s manual or ask for assistance from the unit manufacturer. Check the floor drain and look for water flow. Correctly flowing water means the motor is working properly. No flow means the motor is damaged or incorrectly connected. Thankfully, the motor is just one component and can be easily replaced.
Reset Your System After A Power Outage
Your softener system is set to backwash or go through a regeneration cycle at a set time. In the case of power outages (especially long ones), your system’s backwash time can move to a completely different time than before. Sometimes, the system won’t backwash at all.
To prevent this from happening, immediately reset your system after a power outage. Check the unit’s manual or contact the manufacturer to accurately reset your softening system.
Make Sure The Bypass Valve Is Set Correctly
The bypass valve comes as a part of the water softener control valve and it is responsible for regulating the amount of water passing through the softener. Disruptions like clogging, breaking, or being set incorrectly will stop the water from flowing through the mineral tank. When that happens, hard water will remain hard.
If you start seeing symptoms of hard water, check the bypass valve first before you replace your water softener. This valve typically sits on top of the tank. Make sure it is set correctly. If it’s clogged or rusted, it’s better to call in a pro to have it fixed. You can also use water softener cleaner to help clean the valve.
Conclusion
Taking the time to learn to clean a water softener and enact your learnings will net you great benefits in the future. It can be quite the chore on your first time cleaning. But don’t let a couple of hours (every 6 months to every year) of manual labour put you down. Remember that every effort you’ve made will result in your water softener reaching far beyond its expected average lifespan.
If you found this post helpful, do have a look at some of our other posts. From water softeners to water bottles, we’ve got expert reviews and discussions that’ll make your life a breeze.
Leave a Reply