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Guide to WATER SOFTENER Adjustment & Cleaning
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• How to adjust a home water softener - control settings
• How to clean a home water softener

Homeowner's Guide to Water Softener Adjustment - how to set the water softener controls

Guide to Setting the water softener controls: Our photo above shows the standard controls on a water softener, permitting the user to specify the days on which a recharge/backwash cycle will occur, the salt dose, and also the time of day.

• Set the water softener clock: Setting the clock on the water softener control is important for two reasons: first, you won't be bothered by hearing it run if it recycles when you are asleep or out of the home, and second, since the water softener recharge cycle uses plenty of water, it's a good idea to send that discharge to the septic system at a time when other plumbing fixtures are not in use - thus spreading the wastewater load on the septic system out over a longer period.
• Set the water softener salt dose: Your water softener's instructions (available from the manufacturer or from a local water softener service company) will tell you what salt dosage to set on the softener as a function of how many grains of hardness your water supply shows.
• Set the water softener recharge frequency: your water softener's instructions will tell you how often the system should be recharged as a function of your estimated daily water usage in gallons. See Water Quantity Requirements for some general water usage numbers.
• If your water softener has a manual or clock driven backwash control, you can install a flow meter or hardness meter to determine when the system needs to be backwashed.
• Adjust the backwash frequency and salt dose to the lowest level necessary.
• But do not turn off the water softener entirely. If your water is hard and you leave it off, you can expect to face expensive plumbing repairs when the water supply piping, water heater, or tankless coil become clogged with minerals.

Owner's Guide to Cleaning the Water Softener Salt Tank

Our photo at left shows the interior of a water softener salt tank. Notice that brown soil line marking where dirty water has risen in this tank? Our photo at right shows a closeup of the inside of the float tube in the water softener tank - it's the same yellow tube you see in the left hand photo.

Although the salt you dump into the water softener's salt reservoir tank looks clean, the salt you have purchased is usually mined from the earth and will contain small amounts of soil and other debris. The debris accumulates in the water softener salt tank over time and can become filthy and possibly unsanitary. Debris in the salt tank can also clog water softener controls.

We recommend waiting until the salt in the tank has been consumed, or nearly all consumed. This will leave a water softener salt reservoir tank which is nearly empty and which is quite light, making it easy to disconnect, carry outside, and hose out.

Be careful not to break the float controls in the softener tank, but if you do break something or if you find that the float no longer moves freely, this part can and should be replaced.

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

WATER SOFTENERS
  DETECT HARD WATER
  MEASURE WATER HARDNESS
  HOW SOFTENERS WORK
  HEALTH RISKS
  SALT OR WATER INTO SEPTIC
  REDUCE IMPACT OF SOFTENER
  SOFTENER ADJUSTMENT & CLEANING
  OTHER SOFTENER METHODS

More Information on Septic System Diagnosis, Maintenance, & Repair

• The Septic System Information Website home page for this topic
• Septic Systems Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance- online textbook. Detailed how to inspect, maintain, repair information
• The Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems


• Cesspools Home Buyer's or Owner's Advice
• Drywells Home Buyer's or Owner's Advice
• Septic Tank Pumping Guide: When, Why, How to pump the septic tank
• Tank Location - How to Find the Septic Tank, how deep will the cover be, how to document its location


• Additives & Chemicals: Septic System Maintenance - Are they even needed? Are they even legal?
• Biomat Formation in the Septic System Drainfield Absorption System - what leads to drain field clogging and expensive drainfield repairs
• Buyer's Guide Home Buyer's Guide to Septic Systems Inspection & Testing - What to Do, Step by Step.
• Cheating on Water Tests - (Chlorine in Wells and Septics) Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - Water Test Cheating Warnings for Home Buyers and Home Inspectors
• Clogged Drain Diagnosis - is the problem the septic system or the Building drain system?
• What is a Septic System An Engineer's View & Septic System FAQ's
• Contamination in Buildings how to test buildings for bacterial contamination from Sewage and Septic backup, remediation, & references
• Leach Field Inspection ProcedureSeptic Leach Fields - how to inspect and diagnose septic drainfield failures - what causes septic field failure?
• Maintenance: Ten Steps to Keeping a Septic System Working, suggestions from the U.S. EPA, edits and additions by DJF
• Sewage & Septic Backups and what to do about sewage spillage in buildings
• Tank Location - How to Find the Septic Tank, how deep will the cover be, how to document its location
• Tank Pumping Frequency Guide for Septic Tanks: When, How, What to Watch For when pumping or cleaning septic tanks
• Water Usage: Capacity: Determining Needed Septic Capacity - Typical residential water usage for people, appliances, and activities.

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