Water softeners usually work by removing calcium and magnesium ions from water to make it taste and look “harder” and “Brunner.” By removing these ions, your water can become more acidic, which can impact the taste and odor of your water. But, why does your water taste salty even with a water softener?
If your water has a salty flavor, it’s likely that your water softener’s injector is blocked or that the brine or drain line flow control is restricted or kinked.
While these are some of the most prevalent causes of salty water, they are by no means the only possibilities. That nasty salty taste in your water may be caused by something we’ve learned about water softeners. We’d want to share that with you as well as some possible solutions.
There are several reasons why your water tastes salty with a softener, including the type of softener you have. Find out how to identify and fix your problem.
Why does your water taste salty with a water softener?
It can be hard to understand why your water tastes salty with a water softener. The truth is, the device doesn’t add salt to the system; it simply removes sodium from tapwater by breaking down its molecular structure into usable nutrients that are then added back through other means in addition to drinking or cooking.
This process helps maintain gaseous equilibrium and prevents minerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium from being dissolved out of solution during treatment so they don’t have an effect on taste or water quality.
Salty-tasting water is often caused by a high amount of sodium chloride ions that have been left behind after finishing the regeneration process. This causes the salt to be absorbed into your body and can lead to serious health problems like hypertension, kidney stones, and gout.
The best way to avoid this issue is for you not to drink any tap or bottled water until it has passed through a reverse osmosis filter before drinking it as well as using an ion-exchange resins with deionized water.
The regeneration process for a water softener is the cleaning process that takes place when it has been used. Regeneration cleans out all of the salt particles in your water. This makes your water taste less salty and cleaner.
Also, salt that goes into the tap causes it to taste salty. The salt in the water evaporates and is absorbed by plants, which then take up the water. This process ends up leaching minerals from rocks that are dissolved into the ground, making your drinking water less pure.
A properly installed and functional water softener will not make your water taste salty. If you are experiencing a salty taste in your water, it could mean that the injector is clogged.
If your water tastes salty, it’s not because of a salt-based softener. In fact, the best way to tell if you have hard or soft water is with an inexpensive hydrometer that can be purchased for about $10 from any hardware store.
A properly installed and functional water softener will keep your drinking water safe by removing all dissolved minerals from the supply before they enter into your home plumbing system.
What Causes a Water Softener to Make Water Taste Salty?
Clogged injector
If your water is tasting salty, then you might have a clogged injector in your water softener. The first thing to do is check the injector valve for any blockages and ensure it functions properly. If the problem persists, there may be something wrong with your plumbing or with your tankless hot water heater.
If your injector is clogged, it may be due to a metal object being stuck inside. If this happens, you should avoid using the machine until you have found and removed all of these objects or buy a new valve that can handle any sediment from the brine solution.
Drain Line Flow Control Clogged
A clogged flow control valve might make your water taste salty. This typically happens when there is a buildup of mineral deposits inside the tank.
If you are experiencing clogged flow control, it might be easier to replace the part rather than try to remove any debris.
Drain Line is clogged or crimped
If your water tastes salty, try pouring a cup of salt in the sink. If you still have a salty taste on the drain line, then it is likely that there is something clogging or crimping the drain line.
In order to prevent a clogged drain line, follow the pipe from its exit from the system’s tank. Feel for kinks and crimps along the way.
A clogged or crimped drain line is most likely caused by sediment that has formed into scum on the surface of the water. The symptoms can vary, but they typically result in an increased amount of time for your dishwasher to fill and finish its cycle.
If you think this may be happening, it’s best to replace parts if necessary because there are different components inside each section that could potentially cause damage due to corrosion.
Bad Brine Valve
If the brine valve is leaking, then water will go into the salt tank and may become too salty. If this happens, you can replace it with an updated one. Breach of Contract: Breach of obligation; breach of warranty; breach of fiduciary duty
If the drain and brine elbow are dripping or running water, it can be a sign of a bad valve. The first step is to examine the system for damage. Next, turn off both valves at the sink so no water flows through them while you investigate further
A bad brine valve is when the temperature in a water system drops below freezing. This can cause problems such as frozen pipes and cracked walls. In order to fix this problem, you need to replace all faulty parts of your water heating system with new ones.
Improper programming of the control head
If the control head is not set up properly, it can cause a water softener to make water taste salty. The most important task for setting up your system is to input the correct settings into the control head.
The improper programming of the control head can lead to the inability of regeneration cycles to happen. You have to correctly input your water hardness in order for regeneration cycles to take place.
Brine cycle to be interrupted?
Brine is a solution used in regeneration for this purpose. The brine cycle to be interrupted? This question may arise when water tastes salty after using a water softener, and it needs an answer from someone who can help you find the answer.
If you are done with the brining cycle and want to add more salt, make sure that your brine tank is about 6 inches deep and has a maximum depth of 10 inches. This will prevent sodium concentration from increasing beyond safe levels for drinking water.
Low water pressure
If your water pressure is low, it might not be fast-flowing enough to properly get through the softener. This can cause a buildup of minerals in the water and make it taste salty.
Most water softeners work best with a low pressure of around 45-70 PSI. Anything below that may affect the production of hard water, which is not good for your appliances and home fixtures.
The low water pressure may be due to a number of reasons. A gauge can help you find out what is going on and how it affects the taste so that you know if they need to regenerate twice or not.
High sodium content in the incoming water
Water softeners are used to reduce the amount of hardness in water, but they can also cause a taste and smell change. Sometimes it is not the unit that causes this problem but instead an issue with how your incoming water was treated at the source.
Water softeners are able to reduce the amount of sodium in water by adding a resin that has a high affinity for sodium ions. However, if the incoming water contains high levels of salt, then it will have a higher concentration of sodium ions and thus result in salty-tasting water.
Some water softeners will not work well with high sodium content in the incoming water. If this is detected, it may be necessary to install a separate system for filtering out excess salt and replacing it with fresh water.
Excessive Water in the Brine Tank
If your hard water softener malfunctions, it may overflow into the brine tank. When this happens, the salt in the tank mixes with water and can make it taste salty.
If the brine tank is full of water, it will cause problems with the machine. A good way to check if there is too much or not enough water in a given tank would be by measuring how many inches are left before coming into contact with metal parts.
If there is excess water, the salt will absorb too quickly and clog up in the tank. This can cause a variety of problems such as an increase in sodium levels or malfunctioning machines. While it may seem like a simple task to fix this issue, check for any signs that indicate that something might be wrong with your machine before you proceed.
How do you fix a salty water softener?
Water softeners utilize sodium for the purification process. The salt that is within the water softener’s tank attracts calcium, magnesium, and other minerals in local sources of tap water.
Salt levels can be reduced by using a filter on your faucet or changing the hardness level of water. Start by replacing salt with potassium chloride in your hard water softener. Potassium chloride is virtually totally devoid of salt.
Also, you can run your cold water for a few minutes and the salty taste should clear after some minutes.
Another option is to filter your softened water before drinking it. Using a water filter pitcher is a simple method to accomplish this. Additionally, the filter will eliminate pollutants like chlorine and lead.
The last alternative is to replace the softener with a reverse osmosis device. In most cases, reverse osmosis devices are just as successful as water softeners at removing calcium and magnesium.
However, if your water is exceptionally hard, reverse osmosis may not be an option since the high mineral concentration might harm the RO membrane.
Conclusion
When your water softener doesn’t rinse away the brine after regeneration, you’ll notice that it tastes salty, especially first thing in the morning. A buildup of salt in your water softener tank can be caused by clogged water pre-filters, broken valves, and faulty internal parts.
A water softener, on the other hand, does not keep adding salt to your water as you use it.. During the regeneration process, your water softener will only be exposed to little amounts of salt.
If your water is consistently tasting salty, it’s probably because your water source has a lot of sodium. Even after passing through a water softener, hard water that comes from a well will still taste salty.
Your best option if your water supply has a lot of salt in it is to install a reverse osmosis drinking water system.
Mike Spencer
Hi Guys, Mike is a Mechanical Engineer who specializes in Heating, Ventilation, and Air-conditioning. His love for humanity and his profession propels him to share useful and factual Information on this blog.