How much water softener salt to add?

[rlg]

Hi everyone

I can't find anything in the instructions or on the web about how much salt to add to a domestic water softener. (I have what I think is a Mistral C0817 cabinet with an 11 litre tank with an Autotrol 255 valve)

Do people usually just bung in a 10 or 25kg bag every so often? If so, how do you tell when you need to add more?

Does the salt need to be covered by the water in the brine tank or can it be higher than the water?

Thanks

Richard

[Andy Hall]

THere is normally a line in the brine or salt storage compartment.

However, it is not that critical.

THe principle is that the salt dissolves in the water to make a saturated solution. For that purpose, it doesn't matter if the water covers the salt or not. Some softeners have a valve adjustment to control how much brine is used during the regeneration. and this may adjust the water level.

When there is too little salt, you won't get a saturated solution and the water will go hard.

Most softeners will take a 25kg bag of salt. Check the instructions as to whether tablets, granular or block salt are required. Block salt tends to be more expensive, and most softeners that are claimed to need it, will actually accept tablets. One factor is whether there is some form of filter that will prevent granular salt getting into the valve brine intake

[mrcheerful]

as long as there is still visible salt then there is enough

[Simon Stroud]

As Andy has pointed out, the aim is to get a saturated brine. Normally the water wouldn't cover the salt - I'd say that if the water is coming right up over the salt then it's probably either time for a refill or your valve is a bit faulty.

In my Prismertec, when more than about 1/8 full of salt, the water does NOT cover the salt. When it went wrong a while ago (bypass valve stuck open) this caused the flowrate of water into the salt/brine tank to be much higher than normal and as a result the water came a LONG way up through the salt. After I fixed the valve (replaced a broken spring) it went down to the normal level.

I think they way to keep a minimum of about 4 inches of salt in there, and there is a line somewhere I think.

It doesn't really matter how far up the water comes (will be dependent on your resin capacity and brining time set on your valve) and water softerner salt seems to be designed NOT to turn into a great big hard "ingot" of salt. Mine takes granular but I assume tablet salt works similarly. With all the gaps between the granules or tablets there is plenty of room for the brine to drain away without leaving it all solid.

Regards, Simon.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes.

Because its empty.

? I have a saltt tank. Theres an inch of water at the bottom only.