Are you wondering if the softener is working? There are a few quick and easy checks you can perform on it to confirm it's performing correctly. Because all water supply compositions are different, we recommend walking through these steps rather than judging the 'soft' feeling of the water. Let's go through these checks together.
Click each step to expand directions
Check the Bypass
1. Go ahead and confirm the bypass is pulled out. The bypass valve allows water to come in and out of the unit, so we want to make sure this is open. Depending on how the unit was installed, you should see one of the following valves - single bypass or 3-valve bypass.
Review Water Hardness
2. You'll need to review the water hardness. Click on the Program/Select button and continue to press and let go until you see Hardness on the screen. Here you can make sure the right hardness number has been entered in. Make sure your programming is correct with our Hardness Level Programming Guide.
Check Water Flow
3. Now, you'll check water flow. We need to find out if the unit is metering water usage. To check:
- Hold Program/Select until '000' appears on the screen.
- Turn on a hot water faucet and leave it running. Come back to the softener. Are the numbers counting up?
- YES; the unit is functioning properly and will perform automatic recharges, based on the household water consumption. You may also wish to remove the top cover here and verify there are no external leaks when the unit is under pressure. Make sure to go turn off the water faucet and then continue to step 4.
- NO; the system is not metering water usage, so it will not recharge automatically. Please visit our Is the Softener Metering article for troubleshooting.
Verify Salt Level
4. Verify your Salt Level. We recommend keeping the salt level between level 2 and 5 on the brinewell number scale. Depending on how long the unit has sat idle without doing recharges, you may want to check for a Salt Bridge as well.
Test the Water
5. Lastly, you'll need to test the water. Go ahead and run a manual recharge cycle by holding the Recharge button until the motor kicks on. You should hear it start making noise within 5-10 seconds. A recharge cycle lasts around 2-2.5 hours. After the cycle has finished, test the water at several faucets with a hardness test strip. 0-3 gpg or 0-50 ppm is considered soft.