With the US filter RO i was using, US filter stated that the water stays above the salt, using it the way florian explained. That was the way there brine tank worked, state approved this also when inspected. New place now salt stays above water.

Thanks for the reply. I removed extra water from the tank and filled 1/2 the tank with Diamond Crystal pellets. The water level is now below the salt and will see if it stays that way.

Thanks for your replies. The water in the brine tank went over the salt level after a couple of regenerations and now it appears the excess water in the brine tank flows out to the drain. As per earlier comments, having water level above the salt is no good. Any ideas why it's happening and the solution?

if you're not having issues with hard water past the softner, look at your brine fill time, and adjust it back, start with the minimum..2 minutes per pin, if you've got a fleck head.

VS,

We use mainly MASTER heads and brine valve. In addition to the ball check at the bottom of the brine valve, we have a float that shuts the water flow to the tank off at the proper level. If your brine valve has a float, I'm guessing that it may be set too high.

Chuck

VS, Chuck makes a good point. You can add a float to you air check valve to prevent overflow.

If the time to fill the brine tank has not changed from when it performed correctly, then the time should be ok. You Brine valve may be sticking open or leaking. Depending on which valve you have on your softener, it probably has a seperate brine valve that is pushed open by a cam. The brine valve may not have closed when the cam rotated off of it. Something may be stuck in the valve (bebris from the brine tank). Also, there should be a flow restrictor in the Brine valve. The flow restrictor may be bad allowing too much flow to the Brine Tank.

The way we have worded the salt level in our P&P's is "The slat level should be approximately even with the water level (just above or below it)"

We encourage this practice so that you can see that the water level is where it is supposed to be. Seeing a correct water level summerizes several functions of the timer head, settings, and brine tank components and tells you if they are working properly.

Water has a limit as to how loaded or saturated with salt it can be. If the water level an inch or so above or below the salt, it makes no measurable difference in the regeneration of the resin. The monitoring of the water hardness is done at the begining of the day and at the end of the day. If your water is soft first thing in the morning you can have faith that it regenerated. If it is still soft water at the very end of the work day then you know you have met your demand for soft water all day. It is as simple as that and a fraction of a percentage of salinity should not make anyone loose a minute of sleep at night. If you are worried about salt usage, you can play with the settings until you have reached the bare minimum of brine needed to regenerate your tank.

The down side of putting out a broad statement telling staff that the salt always has to be above the water line is some staff will take it upon themselves to completely fill the brine tank with salt thus loosing sight of any changes in the water level.

Just my 2 cents.

John B

We've been cited by inspectors for not having the brine tank at least 3/4 full-anyone else?

John B
Let me get this straight, you keep your salt level around the water level all the time? Just to see if the mechanics are working properly?

Why not just fill it up to 3/4 of the tank and test the water daily for hardness. Once it is set at installation, then you will see if any part fails by hardness reading, which should be 0 or very close to it.

If I am reading what you stated in your P&P correctly, then it seems like you are adding a little salt everyday. And depending how much salt you add, then the level of the water will change, further changing the amount of salt you may put in. Sounds like extra work.

We are hospital running 5-25 patients a day, 6 days a week. We use a central bicarb system and RO plant in the Dialysis area. We run hundreds of gallons of water a day and set the softner to work at night. We have not had to reset the regeneration times since it was installed and check the water for hardness, chlorine and other things.

Like you said, if it passes the morning test, then you should be good all day providng the settings are correct. So why not just fill it up with salt and let it go?

Chettrick,

You are right in the fact that we tend to add salt more often, but, it is consumed at the same rate. Considering that we have to open the brine tank every day to look at the salt level it really doesnt boil down to any more work.

Compare for example ...

Adding 1 bag of salt 3 times a week.

to

Adding 3 bags of salt once a week.


We do not add partial bags and its not an exact science. Thats why we worded it "(just above or below)".

My point was not to micro manage the salt level. It was quite the opposite. It was that minute differences in salt vs water levels made no difference in the end result. =)

John B

i don't know what kind of brine tanks you all have, but every one i have seen has a float in it to shut the incoming water off to the brine tank
salt will bridge if the water is above or below the salt....the brine tank should be cleaned annually
how much brine in your tank is dependent on how much you need for the mineral tank

Florian,

Can you explain this to me a little better? You say that in the event of having the water above the salt line that the water above the salt line won't be saturated with salt because the saltwater is heavier than "normal" water (the water that's above the salt line). Wouldn't the natural process of diffusion take over at this point and naturally attempt to equilibrate?

Village,

It is like mixing water and oil. In the brine tank, the water and brine are at different densities therefore they stay separate. The brine is heavier therefore it sinks to the bottom. The water is lighter therefore it stays above the salt. Any water below the salt in a false bottom will become saturated as the heavier brine settles to the bottom and displaces the water.

I originally thought they would mix also so I tested it out using a hydrometer.

If you install a mixing device such as blowing air through the brine solution, you can mix the water above the salt with the brine. But, since the brine tank is mainly idle, the solutions will separate.

Larry,

Since the brine tank fills from the bottom, the water that first contacts the salt would become more dense thus it would migrate to the bottom of the tank as fresh water entering would displace it. I would think that the water would continue to turn over even after the filling has stopped until all the water is equally saturated.

Chuck

Lots of time spent trying to avoid simply keeping salt above water level, and making sure no bridges form.