Check the water softener’s salt and top it up

Out of salt, the water turns hard again.

Who: You can do it yourself.

How often: Every 4-6 weeks; Culligan says monthly. For: the water softener.

The part, and finding the right one

Salt (water softener). The type your manual names (makers differ: some say pellets only, some allow rock or solar salt; potassium chloride needs setting changes). Check every 4-6 weeks. The owner’s manual names the salt for your softener.

On a home’s record, each piece of equipment’s page links its manual and a search for its parts by brand and model. All filters and parts

The brine tank sits beside the resin tank, usually gray with a black lid; lift the lid.
Add salt when water shows above the salt (EPA, Kinetico) or it’s below about half full (Culligan).
Use the salt your manual names: EPA and Kinetico say pellets, no rock salt; Culligan’s guide allows rock, pellet, solar or evaporated; Kinetico takes block or tablet. Potassium chloride needs setting changes.
Fill it about half full (EPA; Kinetico at low use) to three-quarters (Kinetico at medium-high use); never to the top (the salt can bridge), and never below a quarter.
Wait about 4 hours before starting a manual recharge.
The level never drops? It’s a bridge. Probe with a broom handle (Culligan: mark it 34 inches from the end; hitting something before the mark reaches the rim means a bridge), break it up, and start a regeneration.

Hardened salt, or water that isn’t soft: the dealer.
The tank still full after a manual regeneration: a water-treatment pro. For a clog, first try a gallon of hot tap water for 10 minutes.
Don’t feed the ice maker softened water.

Add your home to My homes: each piece of equipment gets this on its own schedule, with “Mark done” and reminders you can turn on.

Your owner’s manual comes first: where it says something different for your model, follow it.

Email us at hello@tradewrench.com. Tell us which page you were on and what you were trying to do.