Posted by Ray Francis CWD/CPI on November 29, 1999 at 12:04:12:

In Reply to: Re: Water Softner posted by The Local Plumber on November 29, 1999 at 03:50:22:

: : HI,

: : I just moved in to a house and the brine tank
: : is full of water. It has regenerated a few times and it has not over flown. There is no
: : salt in the tank. Could there be a valve that is stuck open allowing water in ? Do I need to just add salt ? I'm not sure what to do just in case the salt binds something up causing more damage. It is a real joy emptying the water out of the tank !

: The brine tank should be full of water. Also the salt tank should be full of salt.
: Stop what ever you are doing and go get some salt. Fill the salt tank with salt to the top. Your systen should work fine. Good Luck.

How full is full? The brine tank should not be full of water or even half full of water. The water level in the brine tank Should be a few inches depending on the softner, and the salt setting. If a few inches is what you have, add salt. and the next time the water is visible add salt again. However, there are two parts of the regeneration cycle that if not working properly will let to much water into the brine tank. If the brine rinse cycle doesn't draw water out of the tank the brine fill will add to what is already there. This will happen with each regeration until the tank over flows or closes a safty valve that some models have to protect from the overflowing. The second possible answer is a problem with the brine fill part of the cycle. some softners use floats to control valves that are adjusted to meet the needs of the particular set up. Others use a timed brine fill that will let water into the brine tank at a given rate for a certain amount of time. I suggest you have it checked out by a water conditioning specialist. Also if you think it might be OK try putting one bag in until your sure that it is working. To much water can cause the salt to bridge ( turn into a big chunk ) and you would rather not have to dig it out. there is a web site called water technology on line that has some pretty good people from the water treatment industry. You might want to check it out

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