Water Softener Question

[Terry Teadtke]

Purchased a water softener about 8 months ago and really like the feel of the water now. We don't have a lot of minerals in the water but installed a softener anyway. My question is I was looking in the softener to add salt and the Brine looks really nasty. Kind of a dark color with a slight odor. Also, if we don't use a toilet for a few days we seem to get an algae growth we didn't get before. I called customer support but the poor girl in India didn't have a clue. Any ideas?

Thanks

Terry

[Myk Rian]

Call a local softener dealer instead.

[Terry Teadtke]

I kind of hate to do that since we bought it from a bog box store.

[Mike Henderson]

If the salt reservoir has problems, it has to be the salt put in it. Try a different brand.

I don't know if softer water encourages algae growth but that's besides the point. Put some Clorox in the toilet and let it sit there for a while (meaning hours) before you flush it. If all you do is clean the bowl, the algae will come back quickly because it is also growing in the drain inside the toilet.

Mike

[Jason Roehl]

Our water softener (I installed it a year ago) came with instructions to sanitize it prior to use. I don't recall the exact instructions, but they were basically to pour a bleach solution into it prior to adding salt, then to manually start its cycle. I think you're supposed to do that from time to time.

As someone else said, the salt you use may be a problem, too, or not solving one of your water problems. You may need to use a salt that takes care of iron.

Do you have well water? Do you have particulate and taste/odor filters installed prior to the softener?

[Gene Howe]

We share a well w/ SIL&BIL.They had the same problem you describe. We both have the same type of conditioners. They use salt, we use potassium. They installed filters ahead of the softener and eliminated the problem. He's too cheap to use potassium???????
Ours is from Sears and we've had no problems for 14 years.

[keith ouellette]

ditto on the sanitize. We have to use a softener because we are on hard well water.
Every so often I put some bleach in the softener to sanitize the system.
I use a couple of 1" clorine tablets that dissolve over a few cycles but I think a cup of clorox would work also.

[Terry Teadtke]

Thanks all,

We're on city water but it comes from a well. I try the bleach idea.

Thanks again,

Terry

[Chris Padilla]

He's too cheap to use potassium???????

Potassium has increased in price 50%! I switched back to normal salt after that monstrous jump....

The local outfit calls us every so often to check on our levels and to bring us the potassium and I usually just say, "No problem...come on by" until a year or so ago when the price for my usual quantity of bags went from $80 to $120.... We just eat a few more bananas now....

[Chris Padilla]

ditto on the sanitize. We have to use a softener because we are on hard well water.
Every so often I put some bleach in the softener to sanitize the system.
I use a couple of 1" clorine tablets that dissolve over a few cycles but I think a cup of clorox would work also.

Do you just toss in the chlorine tables with the salt or at the time when the salt is nearly depleted? I have pool chlorine tables I could use....