Softener membrane burst clogging pipes

[roadrunner]

Last night the membrane in the softener burst and the cold water taps in 3 out of four bathrooms don't work as well as one hot. One toilet doesn't work as well. It has the newer style workings ie not ball and flapper. Does anyone have any suggestions before I resort to calling a plumber? The softener is shut off now. When this first happened a thick stream was flowing through the upstairs cold water tap but I shut it off not knowing what was wrong and it won't restart

 

[IFIXH20]

The water softner needs to be put in bypass ASAP, the resin bed have gave way.
Look in the toilet tank of all your toilets to see if you have small orange granular/beads. If so , those beads are resin. If you have resin in you plumbing system I would recommend having a plumber out to completely flush you plumbing system. All Fixtures, water heater, and valves will need flushing. You might even have to replace some cartridges. The process could take upwards of 3hrs depending on the amount resin released into the system.

 

[roadrunner]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, the softener is turned off and I was able to confirm it is resin beads as they initially came out of the tap.

 

[speedbump]

I have never heard of a softener having a membrane. They do have one or two screens, generally made of plastic to keep the mineral in the tank. The main one is in the bottom of the softener tank and sometimes one is just under the head to keep mineral out of the plumbing during backwash. I have also never known a screen to just let go. Maybe if you have harsh chlorinated water, it may have eaten something.

I agree with getting a plumber to do a total flush before something gets so stopped up that you may end up disassembling things.