How to Clean Water Softener Brine Tank? (Step by Step Guide)

Most of the home owners in Granger depend on a Soft Water System to get rid of the hard water as it can make one’s life painful.  

​By clogging up the piping system, decreasing the efficiency of the washing machine, dishwasher & causing many more troubles. ​

But one of the not so frequently talked subject is: 

How to clean a water softener brine tank? 

​As a brine tank is the most important part of the water softener system where the actual magic happens and it does get messy after a certain period of use. 

Cleaning it from time to time increases its life and maintains the efficiency of your water softener system.

In this article, you are going to exactly learn that with an easy to follow step by step guide. 

How to clean a Water Softener Brine Tank? 

Salt level in your brine tank should be low when you clean it as it will reduce the amount of work you need to do. 

The best time to clean is when you are about to add salt into the tank. 

So, set aside the new salt and clean the tank first before adding new salt. 

Let’s get into detail now.

0. Unplug power supply before cleaning 

This is a very important step which you should always follow whether you are cleaning or adding salt in your tank.

Remove the power supply.

1. Flush the Tank  

The first step is to empty the water from the brine tank. 

For this take the help of your water softener user manual and set it to bypass mode. This will shut off the water supply to the brine tank.  

Disconnect the hoses between the water softener and brine tank.

Now dump all the water out of the tank and throw away the salt.  

If you see big chunks of salt bridging up, use hot water to dissolve it or if you are low on time use a shop vacuum to suck it up swiftly.

Keep this waste away from your garden as salt water can kill your plants. 

And dump it in a safe area.

2. Take out the Brine Float 

You will see a float inside the “brine well”, pull it out. 

Once you do it, check for the end you might see it has crystallized. 
If this happens, you need to get rid of those crystallized calcium as it can block the functioning of brine tanks.

For this simply dip it inside hot water and remove the crystals with the help of a brush. 

3. Remove the Mesh 

Most of the water softener these days comes with a mesh or grid at the bottom.

Gently remove it before cleaning the tank. 

4. Clean the tank

Now take a bucket, fill it with water (4-8 liter) , add dish soap in it and mix it well. 

Now fill the brine tank with this mixture.  

Rub the surface of the brine tank with a long brush to remove any salt that has stuck to its side. 

Once it is done. Dump out this soapy water and rinse it with fresh water. 

5. Disinfecting the tank 

Now again fill the tank with freshwater, add ¼ cup of bleach. Stir it well and let it sit inside the tank for 15-20 minutes.

This will kill the bacterial growth inside the tank. 

After 15 minutes flush out the bleach water and rinse it again with water. 

6. Refill 

Now, put the grid and brine float back to its place. 

Connect the hoses between the softener and brine tank. 

Add salt and water as you normally do inside the tank. ( The best practice is to fill half the tank with salt and keep at least 6 inches gap between the top of the tank and salt) 

Remove it from the bypass mode. 

And it's done. 


Few More Tips to Maintain Brine Tank  

Use good quality Water Softener Salt 

You should always use the purest softener salt for your water softener.

Because pure salt has less insoluble matter and they won’t cause much clogging up inside the tank.

On the other hand, impure salt will cause a lot of bridging and decrease the efficiency of the water softener.  

We at AcmeWaterWorld have a range of high quality water softener salt, which you can get delivered right to your home or office. 

Check them out here. 

Fill The Tank Correctly 

Most of the people fill salt inside the brine tank incorrectly. 

The idea is to fill half of the tank with salt and keep at least 6 inches of gap between the salt and the top of the brine tank. 

Conclusion: 

I hope this easy to follow guide on cleaning your water softener brine tank so you have soft water was able to give you detailed instructions. 

Cleaning it from time to time increases the life of your water softener system. 

Whenever you see a lot of salt buildup or dirt inside the tank, it's best to clean it. 

If you are still having any doubts make sure to comment them down and we will be happy to help you out.