The clearest sign is the return of hard water symptoms — spots on glassware, soap that will not lather, scale reappearing on fixtures. If your water was soft and now is not, something in the system has stopped working.
Start With the Salt
Before assuming a repair, check the brine tank. An empty tank is the most common cause of a softener that suddenly stopped working, and it is not a repair at all.
The second thing to look for is a salt bridge — a hardened crust of salt that forms across the tank, leaving an empty cavity underneath. The tank looks full, but the salt is not in contact with the water, so no brine is being made. Break through the crust with a broom handle and the problem is often solved.
A salt mushy layer at the bottom of the tank, sometimes called mushing, does the same thing from the other direction. That one usually requires emptying and cleaning the tank.
Symptoms and What They Mean
- Hard water returning. Salt, salt bridge, a failed control valve, or resin that has reached the end of its life.
- Salty-tasting water. The system is not rinsing properly after regeneration — usually a drain restriction or a control valve problem.
- Reduced water pressure throughout the house. Often a fouled resin bed or sediment accumulation. Sometimes the softener is simply undersized for household demand.
- Constant regeneration. A control valve or timer fault, or a system sized too small for the water hardness.
- Never regenerating. Failed timer, failed meter, or a power issue.
- Water in the brine tank that will not draw down. A blocked injector or drain line.
- Unusual noises. Typically the valve motor or a stuck piston.
Resin Has a Lifespan
The resin bed is what actually performs the ion exchange, and it does not last forever. Ten to fifteen years is typical, though chlorine in a municipal supply degrades resin faster, and iron in well water fouls it.
A softener with exhausted resin will run through its regeneration cycle normally and still deliver hard water. That is a confusing symptom because everything appears to be working.
Resin can be replaced, and on a well-built system that is often worth doing. On an older unit with a failing valve as well, replacement usually makes more sense.
Iron Is a Separate Problem
Homes on well water frequently have iron along with hardness. A standard water softener removes some iron, but beyond a certain concentration the iron fouls the resin bed and progressively destroys its capacity.
If you have orange or brown staining in sinks and toilets and your softener keeps underperforming, the underlying issue is likely iron requiring dedicated treatment ahead of the softener — not a softener that needs repair.
Repair or Replace
Control valves, timers, injectors, and seals are all serviceable parts, and repair usually makes sense on a system under about ten years old.
Replacement becomes the better call when the resin is exhausted and the valve is also failing, when the unit is badly undersized for your actual hardness, or when it is past fifteen years. Modern metered systems regenerate based on actual water use rather than a clock, which uses considerably less salt and water than older timer-based units.
If you are replacing anyway, it is worth reconsidering whether a salt-free water conditioner fits your situation better — though it does not soften water, only prevents scale.
What Regular Service Prevents
Most softener failures are gradual. Sanitizing the resin bed, cleaning the brine tank, verifying the salt setting, and confirming regeneration cycles keeps the system delivering what you paid for.
We test water during service to confirm the softener is actually working, which is the only way to catch declining resin performance before symptoms appear. Service is included in our Care Club maintenance plan.
If hard water has already been running through the house, your water heater has been accumulating sediment and is worth flushing.
We serve Fredericksburg, Kerrville, Boerne, Comfort, and the surrounding Hill Country. Contact 72 Degrees or call (830) 468-5316.
