Water Softener Salt Bridge: How to Find It and Fix It

What a salt bridge is

Diamond Crystal defines bridging as salt sticking together to form a bridge that keeps it from contacting the water in the tank. Morton Water Softeners describes the same thing as a hard crust that leaves a hollow area below it.

The problem is what happens next. With no salt touching the water, there is no brine, and without brine, Morton Water Softeners says, the resin bed does not regenerate and you will have hard water. The tank looks full the whole time.

What causes it

• Humidity. Morton Water Softeners names high humidity as a usual cause.
• The wrong kind of salt. Morton Water Softeners says rock salt carries more insoluble minerals, which over time can cause bridging and a muddy tank.
• Smaller crystals. Diamond Crystal says the larger size of pellets and cubes may make them less prone to bridging than smaller crystals.
• Mixing shapes. Morton Water Softeners says mixing pellets and crystals can raise the risk.

How to check for one

Morton Water Softeners' method: take a broom handle or similar tool and push it straight down into the salt. If you feel a hard object, it is most likely a salt bridge. A second clue is salt that sits well above the water line and never seems to go down.

Any level reading, whether it is your eyes or a sensor, sees the top of the salt. A bridge can hold that top surface in place while the salt underneath is gone, so the broom handle check every few weeks is worth keeping in your routine.

How to break it safely

• Push into the bridge carefully in several places to break it up.
• Use a broom handle or other round-ended tool. Morton Water Softeners warns not to use sharp or pointed objects, which can puncture the tank.
• Once it breaks, the loose salt drops into the water and brine starts forming again.

Salt mushing, the other tank problem

Diamond Crystal describes salt mushing as salt breaking down into small granules that do not fully dissolve, forming a soft layer at the bottom of the tank. Its fix is to clean out the tank, and it suggests trying a different type of salt if mushing keeps happening.

Keeping it from coming back

Simply Salt delivers two salts made for softeners: Solar Crystals with Rust Remover and Morton Clean & Protect Pellets. Compare them.

• Use salt made for softeners, 99% pure or better, per Morton Water Softeners. Skip rock salt and block salt.
• Pick one shape and stay with it.
• Poke the salt every few weeks to keep it loose.
• Consider pellets made to resist it. Morton says its Clean and Protect pellets are formulated to reduce bridging and mushing, and Diamond Crystal says its Bright & Soft pellets are formulated to prevent both.