How to Clean a Brine Tank
Brine tanks are the giant salt tanks that are the mainstay of water softeners. For the most part, they are self sufficient for the life of the softener, but sometimes with just natural grime and gunk from salt, they can either plug up or become less efficient. When that happens, it is a sure bet that a good cleaning will help resolve the problem. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Sturdy whisk broom
- Gallons and gallons of hot water (a hose connected to a hot water faucet will be perfect)
Instructions
-
-
1
Drain the brine tank. Since most brine tanks are located either downstairs or in laundry rooms, there should be a drain nearby. At the bottom of the brine tank, there will be a drain valve. You need to open this drain valve and drain the tank, letting the brine solution run into the floor drain.
-
2
Lift the cover off of the tank and put it aside.
-
-
3
Dissolve the brine with hot water. Brine, which is just another name for salt, dissolves quickly in hot water. To that end, using your hose with hot water running, begin spraying liberally inside of the brine tank.
-
4
Scrub out the tank. Allow the hot water to keep running into the tank, flushing it out. Take your whisk broom and scrub down the sides, running hot water on them to dissolve the salt and then scrubbing again until the salt residue is gone. When nothing but clean hot water is running out the drain valve, you can turn off the hot water and pull out the hose.
-
5
Refill the tank. Turn off the drain valve, fill the brine tank back up with salt, and replace the cover. Your brine tank will now work as good as new.
-
1
