No Soft Water

Hard water buildup affects more than just your fixtures - it can dry out hair, skin, and require more soap and detergent for washing. Below are a few things you can check to find a solution and get your softener back to peak performance. 

1. Is there water above the salt in your tank?

          a. YES; visit our Excess Water in Tank article. If your tank harbors excess water, it is not recharging the filtration media properly - giving you hard water.

          b. NO; continue to #2.

2. Check if your unit is metering water:

 Hold the Select button until '000' appears, then let go. Depending on your model, the screen will look like this:

         

Turn on a hot water faucet (leave it running). Are the '000' counting up? 

         a. YES; your system has been recharging, continue to #3.

         b. NO; check that your softener's bypass is pulled OUT and check for a 3 valve bypass on your plumbing (correct valve position below). If the '000' still doesn't count, visit our Failure to Meter Water article for troubleshooting. 

                  

3. Is your incoming hardness programmed correctly? If the the hardness is set too low, the softener will not be able to keep up with your household's usage. Visit our Hardness Calculation article to check this.     

4. Has your unit been consuming salt?

   YES; Confirm there is salt above the #2 in your tank. The salt level should always sit between #2 and #5. Continue to step 5 below. 

   NO; visit our Salt Bridge article for the rest of your instructions. If the salt is solidified in your tank, the softener will not be able to dissolve it properly in order to recharge the resin.

5. Is the tank filling with water?

1.  Start a manual recharge at your earliest convenience (hold the Recharge button until the motor starts, then release). 
2. Open the cap on the brinewell (tube with number scale) and shine a flashlight to the bottom. Do you see water moving? 
   1. 1. YES; Great! Wait a few hours for the recharge to finish, then use a hardness test strip to confirm it is soft at multiple cold faucets. You can request a strip from us, or find them at your hardware store.  
      2. NO; visit our Is My Softener Filling? article for the rest of your instructions. 

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