Tips for long-term, effective relief from hard water problems.
Do not allow salt to bridge or become mush.
Salt bridging occurs when a hard crust forms in your brine tank and leaves spaces between the water and salt which prevents the salt from dissolving into the water to make brine. Brine is required for the resin beads that soften the water to do their job. High humidity, changes in temperature around the water softener, or using the wrong kind of salt often causes salt bridging. If your salt tank appears full but you know the water is still hard, you may have a salt bridge. The quickest way to test for a salt bridge is to gently poke the top of the salt with a broom handle . If the salt has solidified , you will break it up with a little force.
Salt mush is the more serious of the two problems, and happens when the dissolved salt recrystallizes and forms a sludge at the bottom of the brine tank. This thick layer of salt prevents the softener from cycling properly , which leads to hard water and severe blockages in the tank . If you test a salt bridge and it does not break when you press on it, the likely cause is salt mush. The only way you can fix this problem is to drain the water from the water softener, scoop out all the old salt and replace it with new salt.
Good quality salt pellets would greatly cut down on any problems, especially salt paste. To avoid these salt problems: Also, don't get too salty with your brine tank. Old salt doesn't stick to tank walls when half full Finally, it's also important to control the humidity level around the water softener. Too humid and condensation can form in the brine tank and cause the salt to stick together and bridge.
