How often should I need to add salt to the Brine Tank? - AquaTek Pro

Q:

How often should I need to add salt to the Brine Tank?

A:

It depends on how often your system needs to regenerate.

The more your softener regenerates the more salt you will consume. As for the salt level in the brine tank, you can let the salt get down to the point inside the tank where you can see the water just above the salt. You will need to keep a 100% saturation of, salt to water, to have a good brine mixture. 100% saturation or brine, is where water cannot hold any more dissolved salt. When you see 2 inches of water above the salt, it is time to add more!

You should check the salt level in your brine tank on a monthly basis as part of monthly maintenance program. Add salt if you see the salt is blow the water lline. If, the system was sized properly before the purchase and it is operating properly you should be be using some salt and if you are not then , there could be a problem. Do not over-fill your brine tank, especially, if you have a float valve. The float valve is usually located inside a tube in the brine tank which, keeps the salt away from the valve. Too much salt in the brine tank can have a crushing effect on the valve tube and can cause your float to raise and lower improperly. All brine tanks should have a float valve to prevent overflow in case of system malfuction.

If your water softener was sized properly for the amount of people in the home, on average, you should be using 1-1/2, 60 lb. bag of salt, every month. Purchasing the properly sized system, for the water quality it has to deal with, is the key to saving money. If you are using more tahn 1-1/2 bags of salt a month, your system was not sized properly or there have been adjustments due to well degridation or additional water cosumption. Remember, the cost of the water softener is a one time thing but, salt isn’t. Don’t let a water company sell you a water softener that is too small and then, make even more money selling you lots of salt. The less salt you use in a year, the more money you save. Make sure you ask how much salt the softener will use in a month; if they can't give you that answer, call another company!