Softener producing briny and discolored water.

[Tito_tacito]

Hello everyone. I'm newer to home plumbing but understand the basics of what makes the systems work. A few days ago while showering I noticed my water was discolored and tasted salty. It was very hard and almost acidic. My initial thought was the hot water tank as the cold water was clear and tasted fine. I ended up flushing the hot water tank and that worked for a few days. I'm not out of the woods though as my problem returned today and now the cold water is salty as well. I tested the water going into my softener system and, while it tastes like iron given where we live and the fact that we're on a well, it's fine to drink.

Another detail to this story is that a week and a half ago I went downstairs to find my basement flooded as my water pump's pressure hose had come loose and was spraying everywhere. We fixed that issue and drained the basement. No problem. I'm not sure if these two scenarios are related but I'm including it just in case.

So my question is this: has anyone experienced something similar to this before? Is thereverything a way to flush or reset the softener? I fwell like it's not filtering the salt correctly.

I have attached some photos of the water and of my tank setup.

 

[speedbump]

I'm not sure what the problem is but is that iron in the bottom of that glass in the last picture? It almost looks like softener resin.

If your water is salty, the softener may have gone through brine draw, but didn't go into a rinse afterwards. This would indicate a problem with the softener valve. Or it's electronics.

I'm not sure what you mean by filtering the salt. The salt is left in the softener tank on the resin as part of the ion exchange process. There is no filtering.

 

[scrantch]

First, clean your brine tank very well along with the resin valve and hose connecting it to the resin tank.Then remove and clean the injector screen in the valve. You should be able to remove the cap on the right side of the valve to get at the screen or find it in the parts breakdown of the manual. Oh, bypass and relieve the pressure first.

 

[Tito_tacito]

I guess what I meant by filter is rinse. Didn't know the correct terminology. Someone locally had mentioned the valve might be clogged. Would there be a way to test it? If it's an electronic issue is there a way to reset or force a cycle manually? Thanks in advance

 

[SHEPLMBR]

^^^^ that and your brine tank looks awfully low in salt. If there is no salt your system cannot properly backwash and clean your filter media.

 

[speedbump]

The black knob in the left side of the valve advances the valve through it's different cycles. It can be turned by hand. I think you have to push it in to allow it to turn. I have never used the Autotrol electronic heads, so they are new to me. Florida - Electronic and Lightning shouldn't be used in the same sentence. The cycles set up in the valve are all timed differently, so doing a manual backwash would be difficult.

Start the unit into a manual backwash by pushing in on the black knob and turning it slightly clockwise. It should then go through a total backwash regeneration which takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes. If it goes through and returns to service position, the electronics are working fine.

I doubt the valve is clogged, however the nozzle could be plugged with iron preventing it from drawing salt brine.

 

[Tito_tacito]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did a manual cycle and it cleared the salty taste for now. Still lots of iron but that my be a function of a filter cartridge that needs to be replaced.

I do have three bags of salt currently in the tank. Should I add more or more water to it?

 

[SHEPLMBR]

If you are still getting iron, it may be the head or your filter media is not working for iron. Just because it is a softener, does not mean it gets rid of iron. Do you have any paperwork.

 

[speedbump]

Cartridge filters will not remove iron. I agree with SHEPLMBR softeners are not iron filters. Even though lots of people will disagree, in my experience they make very poor iron filters. That bottle hanging in your brine tank is probably ResUP or some other brand or filter media cleaner that is supposed to help keep your media from fouling out from iron. It's just a band aid.

 

[SHEPLMBR]

If you have a flter for iron bacteria it should go in front of softener. That way the iron bacteria does not clog the head of the softener. Also they make stuff that you can add to your brine tank to help with it.

 

[Tito_tacito]

Yes there's that blue hanging 20inch filter before the softener that acts as a filter for larger particulates.

How many bags of salt should I typically have in the brine tank? And should it have more water?

 

[speedbump]

On a well as on city water, there should be no large particles in the water. Only pieces of mineral that have built up on the pipes over the years that get knocked off when the plumbing is disrupted by repairs etc. The softener will catch those particles just as well but you won't have to keep buying new cartridges all the time. I know you and most others don't believe me, but it's a fact.

Never fill your brine tank. It can bridge and when it does, that salt becomes a large rock and is almost impossible to break up. 80 lbs at a time is plenty. A backwash only uses around 9 lbs per. So if you just added 9 lbs after each backwash, it would work fine.

 

[SHEPLMBR]

On a well as on city water, there should be no large particles in the water. Only pieces of mineral that have built up on the pipes over the years that get knocked off when the plumbing is disrupted by repairs etc. The softener will catch those particles just as well but you won't have to keep buying new cartridges all the time. I know you and most others don't believe me, but it's a fact.

Never fill your brine tank. It can bridge and when it does, that salt becomes a large rock and is almost impossible to break up. 80 lbs at a time is plenty. A backwash only uses around 9 lbs per. So if you just added 9 lbs after each backwash, it would work fine.

I am talking iron bacteria, not particles.

 

[speedbump]

Iron bacteria lives in the well and if you have it will clog everything. An in line filter would fill with that stuff in one day. Iron bacteria will put a coating in your toilet tank that you can fill a bucket with.

 

[SHEPLMBR]

Iron bacteria lives in the well and if you have it will clog everything. An in line filter would fill with that stuff in one day. Iron bacteria will put a coating in your toilet tank that you can fill a bucket with.

I did not say a cartridge filter. That will not work. A filter system. One that injects either hydrogen peroxide or chlorine. This will help turn the ferrous iron into ferric iron and make it easier to filter through.

I have been through training on two major manufacturers on these systems. The only thing that changes between the two is the name. Systems virtually all work the same. Any of them will tell you that you have to introduce Oxygen into the water to turn the iron ferric (solid) to filter it.

 

[scrantch]

Correct sheplmbr, I have been using 3M and they call it a hydrocharger which precipitates the iron with air, then it can be filtered. Usually with a backwash filter using their iron removing media. Then you can do even more with an NFS type softener valve and rust removing salt. The duration and frequency of the backwashing cycles, as well as salt consumption, must be set correctly by your water test. In the area I live, iron, manganese and sulfur bacteria growing in water heaters is a huge problem.

 

[speedbump]

I did not say a cartridge filter. That will not work. A filter system. One that injects either hydrogen peroxide or chlorine. This will help turn the ferrous iron into ferric iron and make it easier to filter through.

I have been through training on two major manufacturers on these systems. The only thing that changes between the two is the name. Systems virtually all work the same. Any of them will tell you that you have to introduce Oxygen into the water to turn the iron ferric (solid) to filter it.

We don't have much iron bacteria in our area, where we did find it, we chlorinated the well and plumbing system and that wiped it out. To oxidize iron I prefer air to chlorine, peroxide or potassium permangenate. No chemicals is always a good thing. But your right, you have to oxidize the iron or it will pass right through a filter.

 

[SHEPLMBR]

We don't have much iron bacteria in our area, where we did find it, we chlorinated the well and plumbing system and that wiped it out. To oxidize iron I prefer air to chlorine, peroxide or potassium permangenate. No chemicals is always a good thing. But your right, you have to oxidize the iron or it will pass right through a filter.

I agree air injection is best. Now the OP needs to determine if what he has is iron or something else.