How to Install a Water Softener (Step-by-Step DIY Guide)
Water Softener Guides
How to Install a Water Softener (Step-by-Step DIY Guide)
A complete DIY installation guide for a Fleck 5600SXT demand water softener. Covers placement, plumbing, resin loading, the drain line, brine tank hookup, programming, and the slow-startup step that protects your pipes.
By Aidan Walsh, Water Treatment Specialist • 32 years of field experience • Updated August 2026
Want the full picture? Start with our Complete Guide to Water Softeners.
This guide focuses on installing a water softener specifically. If you're installing multiple systems (sediment filter, acid neutralizer, iron filter, UV, etc.), see our complete well water filtration system installation guide which covers every system type in one place.
Watch Aidan walk through the full installation on a 48,000 grain Fleck 5600SXT demand system, the same steps covered in this guide.
TL;DR: Water Softener Installation Overview
- Can you DIY it? Yes, if you have average plumbing experience (think: replacing a water heater or connecting a washing machine). If your home has PEX or CPVC, it's a straightforward job. Soldered copper is where most people should call a plumber.
- Cost: About $100 in parts and materials if you install it yourself. A plumber runs $85 to $125 per hour plus parts. See our full water softener cost breakdown.
- Time: 2 to 4 hours for a typical DIY installation, including loading resin and running the drain line.
- Placement: Next to your pressure tank (well water) or after the main shutoff (city water). Always AFTER an iron filter or acid neutralizer if you have them.
- Drain line: Required. A backwashing softener discharges brine during regeneration. Run a 1/2-inch line 10 to 20 feet to a washing machine drain, laundry tub, sump, or standpipe with a P-trap.
- Brine tank: Connects with the included 6-foot, 3/8-inch tubing. Quick-connect at the safety float, brass fitting at the valve. Two minutes of work.
- Programming: Set the time of day, the capacity (48 for a 48,000 grain unit), and your hardness plus 6 to 7 grains of compensation. That's it.
- The critical step: Open the main valve SLOWLY at startup with a cold faucet open. Full pressure too fast can blow resin into your house plumbing.
- The system: Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 grain ($1,995) is the size shown in the video and fits most 3 to 5 person households. Not sure about sizing? Call Aidan at 800-460-5810 with your water test results.
Before You Start: What You Need to Know
A water softener removes hardness minerals (calcium and magnesium) through ion exchange. Hard water flows through a bed of cation resin, the resin grabs the hardness minerals, and every 7 to 14 days the valve rinses the resin bed with a salt solution from the brine tank to recharge it. That rinse cycle is called regeneration, and it's why every softener installation needs a drain line.
The system in the video (and in this guide) is a 48,000 grain Fleck 5600SXT demand system. The Fleck 5600SXT is the most popular residential softener valve in America because it meters your actual water use with a built-in flow meter and only regenerates when necessary. That saves salt and water compared to old timer-based units.
System Sizes and Pricing
| Model | Resin | Best For | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fleck 5600SXT 32,000 grain | 1.0 cu ft | 2 to 5 people, up to 3 bathrooms | $1,495 |
| Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 grain | 1.5 cu ft | 3 to 5 people, up to 4 bathrooms | $1,995 |
| Fleck 5600SXT 64,000 grain | 2.0 cu ft | 4 to 7 people, 4 to 6 bathrooms | $2,195 |
| Fleck 5600SXT 80,000 grain | 2.5 cu ft | 6 to 10 people, 5+ bathrooms | $2,495 |
Not sure which size? Read our water softener sizing guide or call Aidan at 800-460-5810 with your water test results. He'll size it based on your hardness, household size, and water usage.
DIY vs Plumber: The Real Numbers
DIY Installation
~$100
Parts and materials: fittings, 90s, couplings, a few feet of pipe, drain tubing, and Teflon tape. Plus 2 to 4 hours of your time.
Licensed Plumber
$85-$125/hr
Plus parts and materials. Most softener installs take a plumber 1 to 2 hours. Still far cheaper than a dealer's turnkey quote.
Either way, you come out ahead. Buying the system online and paying a plumber a couple hundred dollars still costs thousands less than what Culligan or Kinetico charge for comparable hardware installed.
Where the Softener Goes in Your Treatment Sequence
On well water, the softener installs right next to your pressure tank in the basement or utility room. But order matters: if you have other treatment equipment, the softener always goes LAST in the filtration chain (before UV, if you have it). Here is the correct order from the well to the house:
(optional)
(if pH < 7.0)
(if iron present)
(YOU ARE HERE)
(optional)
Why Order Matters
- Softener after the iron filter: Untreated iron fouls softener resin and destroys it within months. Remove the iron first so the softener only has to deal with hardness. More on this in Iron Filter vs Water Softener.
- Softener after the acid neutralizer: An acid neutralizer adds some hardness back into the water as it corrects pH, so the softener needs to see the water AFTER that happens to remove it. See Acid Neutralizer and Water Softener: Do You Need Both?
- After the pressure tank: The softener needs steady pressure to operate and meter correctly. Never install it between the well pump and the pressure tank.
On city water? Same idea, simpler chain: the softener goes on the main line after the water meter and main shutoff, usually with a carbon filter ahead of it for chlorine. See our city water softener guide.
What Comes in the Box
Every Fleck 5600SXT softener from Mid Atlantic Water ships as a complete system on a pallet. Here's what arrives:
With internal center riser tube and distributor
Demand-regen control valve with built-in flow meter
1" stainless steel bypass, pre-installed on the back of the control head
1.5 cu ft of 10% crosslink resin (48,000 grain). Often pre-loaded at the factory.
Salt tank with safety float shutoff inside
6 feet of 3/8" tubing with quick-connect fitting
Included when resin ships separate for loading
Small bag of brass fittings to connect the brine tank tube to the control valve
Your Resin May Already Be Loaded
When the manufacturer has time, they blow the softener resin into the tank with a machine before shipping. The tank is still manageable to move around your house with resin in it. If your tank arrives empty, you'll get the resin bags and a funnel, and loading it yourself takes about 15 minutes (Step 3 below).
Tools and Materials You'll Need
Have your fittings and parts on hand BEFORE the softener arrives. Nothing stalls an install like a mid-project run to the hardware store with your water shut off.
Included With the System
- Mineral tank with riser tube
- Fleck 5600SXT valve with bypass
- Cation resin (1.5 cu ft on the 48,000 grain)
- Brine tank with safety float
- 6-foot, 3/8" brine line with quick connect
- Drain line fitting on the valve
You'll Need to Provide
- 90-degree elbows and couplings to match your pipe type
- Two 1" male thread adapters (PEX, CPVC, PVC, or copper)
- A couple feet of pipe for the connection runs
- 1/2" drain tubing (enough to reach your drain, 10 to 20 feet)
- Pipe cutters
- Glue and primer (or one-step glue) for CPVC/PVC
- Crimping tool and rings for PEX (or SharkBite push-fit fittings)
- Teflon tape, bucket, and towels
- 110V outlet within 6 feet of the valve
Know your plumbing before you buy fittings. A lot of houses have CPVC or PEX nowadays, and both are very easy to work with. PEX crimps or push-fits together, and CPVC glues with one-step yellow glue. A lot of older houses have copper, and that's a whole different story: copper joints have to be soldered, and if you're not experienced with a torch, that's the point where you should have a plumber make the connections (or use SharkBite push-fit fittings to skip soldering entirely).
The SharkBite shortcut: if the softener is a single unit going into an accessible line, a few feet of PEX tubing and SharkBite fittings will get it done right away with no torch, no glue, and no crimping tool.
Step-by-Step Installation (8 Steps)
Pick the Spot and Lay Everything Out
The softener goes right next to your pressure tank in the basement (or after the main shutoff on city water). Find a fairly level spot with:
- Floor space for two tanks: the mineral tank (about 10" diameter) and the 18" x 33" brine tank side by side, plus clearance above the valve for service.
- Drain access within 10 to 20 feet (washing machine drain, laundry tub, sump, or a standpipe).
- A 110V outlet within 6 feet for the valve's transformer.
Then lay out your fittings: count how many 90s you need, which male and female adapters match your pipe type (copper, PEX, PVC, or CPVC), and measure your pipe runs. Getting everything laid out before you cut anything is the difference between a 2-hour job and a 4-hour job.
Shut Off Water and Relieve Pressure
Turn off the well pump at the breaker (or close the main shutoff on city water). Open a cold faucet downstream to relieve pressure. Put a bucket and towels under the section of pipe you'll be cutting; there's always residual water in the lines.
Load the Resin (If It's Not Pre-Loaded)
Check the mineral tank first: if the resin was blown in at the factory, skip to Step 4. If your resin shipped in separate bags, load it before the valve goes on:
- Tape off the center riser tube. Completely cover the top opening of the tube sticking up inside the tank so resin can't fall into it.
- Set the funnel on top of the tank opening.
- Scoop or pour the resin in, working slowly. The 48,000 grain unit takes 1.5 cubic feet of cation resin.
- Use ALL the resin that comes with the unit. The system is sized for the full amount.
- Remove the tape when you're done, making sure no residue falls into the tube.
Do Not Skip the Tape Step
If resin gets into the center tube during loading, it ends up in your house plumbing and clogs fixtures. Tape the tube opening completely before pouring, and remove the tape only after all the resin is in.
Set the Valve and Connect the Plumbing
Thread the Fleck 5600SXT valve onto the tank (hand-tight, then a small nudge; never crank on it hard enough to stress the tank threads). Then make your inlet and outlet connections:
- Cut into the main line after your pressure tank (and after any iron filter or acid neutralizer).
- Run the untreated water line to the softener INLET and the outlet back to the house line. Follow the directional arrows on the bypass.
- Use your 90s, couplings, and adapters to make clean runs. Teflon tape on all threaded connections.
- PEX: crimp or SharkBite. CPVC/PVC: primer and glue (or one-step glue). Copper: solder or SharkBite transition fittings.
Run the Drain Line
This is the step people underestimate. A backwashing softener discharges water during regeneration, when it rinses the resin bed with salt solution to recharge it for the next period of operation. You must run a 1/2-inch discharge line from the drain fitting on the back of the valve to an acceptable drain:
- Washing machine standpipe
- Laundry / sanitary tub
- Sump pit
- A vertical PVC drain line: cut in a tee with a P-trap and standpipe
The drain line can run 10, 15, even 20 feet to reach the drain. Keep an air gap above the drain opening (never submerge the end of the tube). If cutting into a PVC drain stack is beyond your comfort level, this single step is worth hiring a plumber for; the rest of the install is easy by comparison.
Connect the Brine Tank
The easiest step of the whole job. The brine tank comes with a 6-foot piece of 3/8-inch tubing that connects the safety float shutoff inside the brine tank to the valve:
- Push the tubing into the quick-connect fitting on the safety float inside the brine tank. It clicks in.
- Run the tubing over to the softener valve.
- Connect the other end to the brass fitting on the side of the valve.
That's it. The softener handles the rest on its own when it runs its five-cycle backwash. Add softener salt to the brine tank once everything is running.
Program the Valve
The Fleck 5600SXT needs only three settings changed using the buttons on the display:
- Time of day. Set the current time so regeneration runs at 2:00 AM when nobody is using water.
- Capacity. Set it to match your unit: 48 for a 48,000 grain system, 64 for a 64,000 grain system.
- Hardness. Take your raw water hardness and add 6 to 7 grains of compensation. If your raw hardness is 5 grains, program 11 or 12. The compensation covers hardness creep between regenerations and any iron traces.
That's All the Programming
Everything else is preset. The built-in flow meter tracks your actual water use and triggers regeneration only when needed, typically once every 7 to 14 days. If you'd rather have someone on the phone while you program it, call Aidan at 800-460-5810.
Start Up SLOWLY and Rinse
This is the step that separates a clean install from an expensive mistake. With a cold water faucet open somewhere in the house:
- Open the main feed valve about a quarter of the way. Just enough to get water flowing. Let the tank fill slowly.
- Check every connection for leaks and drips while pressure builds: valve, bypass, adapters, drain line, brine line.
- Once water runs steadily from the open faucet, slowly bring the main valve to full pressure.
- Let the water rinse for 10 minutes, then run a manual backwash cycle.
Why Slow Matters
Slamming the water on at full pressure can blow resin out of the tank and into your house plumbing. Getting resin cleaned out of your pipes is a plumber-sized bill you don't want. Quarter-open, fill slowly, then full pressure.
You're Done
Expect some air bubbles and sputtering at faucets for the first few days. That's normal any time you cut into pipes, and it clears on its own. Your softener is now metering water use and will regenerate on its own schedule. For ongoing care, see our water softener maintenance guide.
Common Installation Mistakes
After 32 years in water treatment and thousands of installations, these are the softener mistakes Aidan sees most often. Every one of them is avoidable.
| Mistake | What Happens | How to Avoid It |
|---|---|---|
| Opening the main valve at full pressure on startup | Resin blows out of the tank into your house plumbing and clogs fixtures. Cleaning it out is a major plumbing bill. | Open the valve a quarter of the way with a cold faucet open. Fill slowly, then bring to full pressure. |
| Installing the softener before an iron filter or acid neutralizer | Iron fouls the resin within months. An acid neutralizer downstream adds hardness back into already-softened water. | The softener always goes after the other treatment tanks. See the treatment sequence above. |
| Not taping the center riser tube before loading resin | Resin falls into the tube and ends up in your plumbing on the first startup. | Cover the tube completely with tape before pouring. Remove it after loading. |
| Holding back some of the resin | An underfilled resin bed reduces capacity and softening performance. | Use all the resin that comes with the unit. It's sized for the full amount. |
| No air gap on the drain line | Potential backflow contamination if the drain backs up during regeneration. | Leave the drain tubing hanging above the drain opening. Never submerge the end. |
| Programming raw hardness with no compensation | Hardness sneaks through between regenerations and you still see spotting and scale. | Add 6 to 7 grains to your raw hardness number when programming. Raw hardness of 5 = program 11 or 12. |
| Reversing inlet and outlet connections | Water flows through the resin bed backwards. Poor softening and possible resin displacement. | Follow the directional arrows on the bypass valve. Double-check before turning the water on. |
Something not working right after install? Our water softener troubleshooting guide covers the most common post-install problems and fixes.
Real Customer Installations
These are verified buyers who purchased a Fleck softener from Mid Atlantic Water and installed it themselves. Their reviews are published on our product pages.
"The product is well made and comes with everything needed to install. I had to purchase two one inch threaded pvc adapters to connect to my lines. Installed very quickly. I watched a video to quickly go through the settings. I own two of these at different locations."
"Great softener for a reasonable price. Great support, easy to install."
"All system components were shipped on a wooden pallet. The resin was already placed in the softener tank, and the bypass valve was already installed on the control valve. This eliminates two install steps."
Want to see more? Check the product page reviews for the 48,000 grain system.
When to Call a Plumber
For most of you, honestly, a plumber is the right call, and there's no shame in it. If you're a DIY-er with some experience (like putting in a hot water heater or doing average plumbing around the house), you can absolutely install this yourself. Call a plumber when:
- You have all-copper plumbing and no soldering experience. Soldered joints are a skill. SharkBite push-fit fittings are the workaround, but if the layout is complicated, a plumber finishes it in an hour.
- There's no drain access nearby. Cutting a tee, P-trap, and standpipe into a vertical PVC drain stack is real plumbing. If that's not something you're comfortable doing, get a plumber for it.
- You're installing multiple systems at once. Softener plus iron filter plus acid neutralizer in one session multiplies the connections. One plumber visit for all of them is efficient. (Guides for the others: iron filter installation and acid neutralizer installation.)
- You just don't want to. At $85 to $125 per hour for a 1 to 2 hour job, a plumber install on a system you bought online still beats a dealer's turnkey price by thousands.
If your plumber has questions during installation, tell them to call Aidan at 800-460-5810. He's walked hundreds of plumbers and homeowners through this exact install.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I install a water softener myself?
Yes, if you have average DIY plumbing experience, like replacing a water heater or connecting a washing machine. Homes with PEX or CPVC plumbing are the easiest. If you have all-copper plumbing and no soldering experience, use SharkBite push-fit fittings or hire a plumber for the connections. Take the assessment above for a personalized answer.
How much does it cost to install a water softener?
About $100 in parts and materials if you do it yourself (fittings, pipe, drain tubing). A plumber charges $85 to $125 per hour plus parts, and most softener installs take 1 to 2 hours. The system itself runs $1,495 to $2,495 depending on size. See our full cost breakdown.
Does a water softener need a drain?
Yes. A backwashing softener discharges brine solution during regeneration, so it needs a 1/2-inch drain line to a washing machine drain, laundry tub, sump, or standpipe with a P-trap. The line can run 10 to 20 feet. Keep an air gap above the drain opening.
Do you install the water softener before or after an iron filter?
After. Untreated iron fouls softener resin and destroys it within months. The same goes for an acid neutralizer: the softener goes after it, because the neutralizer adds hardness back into the water as it corrects pH. The softener is the last treatment tank before carbon or UV.
How long does water softener installation take?
2 to 4 hours for a typical DIY installation, including loading resin, connecting the plumbing, running the drain line, and programming. A plumber usually finishes in 1 to 2 hours.
What hardness should I program my water softener to?
Take your raw water hardness and add 6 to 7 grains of compensation. If your raw hardness is 5 grains per gallon, program the valve to 11 or 12. The compensation prevents hardness from sneaking through between regeneration cycles.
Do I have to load the resin myself?
Sometimes. When the manufacturer has time, they blow the resin into the mineral tank before shipping, and the tank is still manageable to move with resin inside. If it arrives empty, you get the resin bags and a funnel. Tape off the center riser tube, pour all the resin in, and remove the tape. It takes about 15 minutes.
Why is there air in my pipes after installing a water softener?
Air bubbles and sputtering faucets for the first few days are normal. Any time you cut into pipes and add an appliance or fixture, air gets into the lines. It works itself out on its own within a few days.
Can I use SharkBite fittings to install a water softener?
Yes, and they make the job much easier. SharkBite push-fit fittings require no soldering, gluing, or crimping. For a single softener going into an accessible line, PEX tubing plus SharkBite fittings is the fastest install method there is.
How often will my water softener regenerate?
A demand-metered valve like the Fleck 5600SXT regenerates based on actual water use, typically once every 7 to 14 days. The built-in flow meter tracks consumption and only triggers regeneration when the resin capacity is nearly used up, which saves salt and water compared to timer-based units.