With more than 30 years’ experience in the residential and commercial water treatment space, Mark Nelson is a Class 1 Drinking-Water Operator and a CBWA (Canadian Bottled Water Association) Certified Plant Operator. As founder and president of Nelson Water in Ottawa, Mark focuses on dealing with challenging water treatment system designs for problem water. He also heads the largest water bottling plant in the city of Ottawa with a delivery network throughout the Valley.

If your water softener is trickling or flowing water constantly into the drain, this is very wasteful. The water could be coming from the back washable filter or a dedicated iron filter if you have one installed in your system. In this article, we will show you how to deal with this problem quickly.

Confirm the Source of the Problem

Before we begin, it’s important to confirm that the water softener is the cause of the problem or we are taking the wrong actions. The easiest way to do this is to bypass the water softener and observe what happens next. If the flow of water has stopped, this means that the cause of the problem is located in the water softener itself. Next, check the control valve to see if it’s in a regeneration cycle or regular service. If the water softener is in service, there should be no water going into the drain. If the system is running a regeneration cycle, then there should be water flowing into the drain. If the regeneration cycle is running at an inopportune time, it’s a good idea to optimize the system. A local water treatment specialist can adjust the control valve to improve the performance and efficiency for your home.

Slow Flowing Water

If the water is flowing slowly, the source of the problem can be checked in a few ways. First, take a look at the drain line; if it’s located in the drain stack, pull it out and check it. The drain line may be attached to the system at both ends, so you need to make sure that the water softener is in service before you touch anything. Take a look at the control valve, if it’s electronic it may display a countdown to the end of a regeneration cycle. A  mechanical control valve will have a window display that should say “Service” if the system is running normally. If a regeneration cycle is in progress, you must wait for the cycle to finish before you continue your troubleshooting.

When you’re ready, place the water softener system in bypass mode and carefully disconnect the drain line. Have a bucket handy to catch the remaining water that’s left behind in the drain line. This is essential if the system discharges in an upwards direction. After disconnection, open the bypass valve slowly and any leaks that need to be drained will flow slowly or quickly from the valve drain port. Once you’ve finished you can re-attach the drain line. If the flow to the drain line is caused by a stuck valve or a water leak that has passed the piston seals, the solution is to fix one of the following two problems.

  1. The motor is not working properly, this means that the system cannot advance the value through the various cycles.
  2. The seals are compromised, the pistons are held in a single position, or they may be compromised too, and water is leaking past them.

Fast Flowing Water

If the water softener is not in a regeneration mode, the water could be flowing constantly in the drain slowly (which is harder to hear) or quickly, which is often accompanied by a gushing water noise. This is easy to confirm; place your hand around the drain line, and you may feel it vibrating as the water flows through quickly. The solution to this problem will vary depending on the make and model of your water softener. If you are not sure how to proceed, it’s a good idea to contact your local water specialist to fix this problem for you.

If you have a WS1 water filtration valve, there are fifteen steps to solve this problem:

  1. Start a regeneration cycle.
  2. Place the water softener into bypass mode.
  3. When the system has slowed, remove the e-clip and disconnect the drain line.
  4. Catch the drain line water in a bucket.
  5. Remove the faceplate.
  6. Remove the power.
  7. Unplug the electrical connections and set them aside.
  8. Remove the drive bracket.
  9. Unscrew the drive cap assembly.
  10. Pull out the piston.
  11. Pull out the regenerant piston (if you have one).
  12. Remove the space stack.
  13. Replace the worn components.
  14. Reassemble the system in reverse order.
  15. Check for trickling and flowing in the drain.

If the water draining has stopped, congratulations, you have fixed the problem, and the water softener should work correctly from now on.

Essential Water Softener Maintenance

We tend to set and forget a water softener because it’s out of sight and thus out of mind. During normal operations, the system will work with little to no intervention. Although the water softener is complex, it’s only necessary to add good quality water softening salt as required. Over time, there will be times when salt bridging and mushing occur in the brine tank. The performance and efficiency will be degraded until these problems are fixed. Breaking the salt bridge apart with a broom handle: draining and cleaning the brine tank will fix these problems quickly. But, some essential maintenance is needed to keep the water softening operating and optimal efficiency. This will include control valve adjustments to save water, draining and sanitizing the brine tank, and resin tank cleaning. The lifespan of a water softener is up 15 years, and well maintained systems would be at the upper end of that range.

In Conclusion

If you have a constantly fast or slow draining water softener, the information in this article should help you to fix the problems. But, if you lack confidence with DIY tasks or you don’t have time to deal with the problem, it’s a good idea to hire a local water treatment specialist. They can fix the problem and carry out some essential maintenance to ensure that your water softener is working as intended.