Water Softener Regeneration: How It Works & How to Optimize It
Number copied. Text it from your phone: 443-277-2204.
Regeneration is your softener cleaning itself. The resin beads in the tank hold on to the calcium and magnesium they pull out of your water, and every few thousand gallons the valve on top washes them off with salt water from the salt tank, rinses the resin, and refills the salt tank for next time. On the Fleck 5600SXT softeners we sell, it starts at 2 AM and takes about an hour and a half.
People ask me if they have to do anything to make it happen. On a softener that is set up right, you don't: the valve counts the water you use and regenerates on its own.
Quick Answer
Water softener regeneration is the self-cleaning process that recharges your resin bed so it can keep removing calcium and magnesium from your water.
- How long, and when. About an hour and a half, starting at 2 AM by default. The house gets untreated water while it runs. See How long a regeneration takes.
- The four steps. On the Fleck 5600SXT: backwash, brine draw and slow rinse, rapid rinse, then brine refill. See How softener regeneration works.
- How often. A metered softener counts gallons and only regenerates when it needs to. Sized right, that is about once a week, sometimes once every 14 days. See How often a softener should regenerate.
- Water and salt. About 7 pounds of salt and 25 to 50 gallons of water on our 48,000 grain softener, about 10 pounds and 35 to 65 gallons on the 64,000. See How much water a regeneration uses.
- Starting one yourself. Press Extra Cycle once and it regenerates tonight. Hold it for 5 seconds and it starts now. See How to regenerate a water softener manually.
What's in This Guide
In this video I answer the regeneration questions people call me about, standing beside our 48,000 grain Fleck 5600SXT: how often it should run, how to tell it ran, how long it takes, the water and salt, timers, and the drain. Two things to read alongside it: in the video I put one regeneration on the 48,000 grain at about 70 gallons and six pounds of salt, and our published numbers for it, further down, are 25 to 50 gallons and about 7 pounds. And a drop from 3,400 to 3,200 gallons left from one day to the next is a day of water use; a regeneration shows as the number going back up to full.
How softener regeneration works
The Fleck 5600SXT runs four steps in this order, and the display shows each step's code while it counts down the minutes. Everything but the last step goes down the drain.
| Step (code on the display) | What happens | Where the water ends up |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Backwash (BW) | Water flows up through the resin and flushes out dirt | Down the drain |
| 2. Brine draw and slow rinse (BD) | Salt water from the salt tank rinses slowly down through the resin and pulls the calcium and magnesium off the beads | Down the drain |
| 3. Rapid rinse (RR) | A fast rinse washes the leftover salt water out of the resin | Down the drain |
| 4. Brine refill (BF) | Water refills the salt tank to make salt water for next time | In the salt tank |
When I tell someone a softener "backwashes" every few thousand gallons, I mean the whole regeneration. Backwash is only the first step. Regen, recharge and regeneration all mean the same cycle.
The rapid rinse is what washes the salt water out before the softener goes back to softening.
In my maintenance video the regeneration part starts at 1:29. I walk through the same four steps on a 5600SXT.
Other valves list the steps differently. The Clack WS1 runs two backwashes, and a valve that refills the salt tank before the cycle lists "fill" first. The 5600SXT refills last.
How long a regeneration takes
On our Fleck 5600SXT a full regeneration takes about an hour and a half. The backwash comes first and shows about 10 minutes on the display, and each step counts down so you can see where it is.
The minutes for each step are set inside the valve (the manual allows 0 to 199 for each one), and ours come set. You don't need to change them.
Why softeners regenerate at 2 AM
Two in the morning is the default because, as I tell callers, "usually everybody's asleep." The meter can tell the resin is nearly used up at any hour, but the valve waits for 2 AM and holds back a reserve of soft water to get you there.
You can set it to any hour you want. The setting is RT, for regeneration time. Pick an hour when nobody is running water.
Can you use water during regeneration?
Yes, but it comes out hard. While it regenerates, the valve lets untreated water go around the resin into the house, so a shower or a load of laundry at that hour gets hard water.
If nobody in your house can go an hour and a half on hard water, a twin-tank softener keeps one tank in service while the other one regenerates.
Run two systems at different times
If you also have an iron filter or another system that backwashes, give each one its own time. I tell people to set them "2 hours apart, so they don't backwash together."
The softener doesn't have to regenerate when the iron filter does. The iron filter regenerates on the days it is preset for, and the softener regenerates on the water you use.
How much water a regeneration uses
One regeneration on our 48,000 grain softener uses 25 to 50 gallons of water and about 7 pounds of salt. The 32,000 grain uses about 5 pounds of salt.
| Softener size | Water per regeneration | Salt per regeneration |
|---|---|---|
| Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 grain | 25 to 50 gallons of water | About 7 pounds of salt |
| Fleck 5600SXT 64,000 grain | 35 to 65 gallons of water | About 10 pounds of salt |
The salt is set by how long the brine refill runs.
Multiply either number by how often the softener regenerates and you have your monthly salt and water. That is why the next section matters.
How often a softener should regenerate
A softener sized right for the house regenerates about once a week, sometimes once every 14 days. That is what I tell callers: sized right, "it's only gonna regenerate once a week, once every 7 days."
If yours regenerates every day or two, check the capacity and hardness settings first (What you set on a Fleck softener), then the size. What size water softener do I need? covers the sizing.
After how many gallons does a softener regenerate?
A metered softener doesn't count days, it counts gallons. The display shows the gallons left before the next regeneration, and when they run out, the valve regenerates that night.
The valve does the math for you. It divides the softener's size by your water's hardness: a 48,000 grain softener on 12 grain water gets 4,000 gallons, and on 24 grain water it gets 2,000. It keeps a reserve out of that to carry you to 2 AM.
In my maintenance video I put the typical number at "every, say, 3,000 or 4,000 gallons." Harder water means fewer gallons between regenerations.
Softeners that count gallons versus timers
A timer softener regenerates every set number of days whether you used the water or not. A metered one, like every Fleck softener we sell, "monitors water usage and only regenerates when absolutely necessary."
What happens when you use little water
Our Fleck softeners still regenerate on the 14th day if you haven't used enough water to start one. As I told a caller with a lake home: "If it doesn't use enough water to initiate a regeneration within that 14-day period, on the 14th evening, it will regenerate." That setting is the day override, DO on the display.
Text me how often yours regenerates
Send me your softener's size, your hardness number and how many days it goes between regenerations. I'll tell you whether it is the settings or the size.
Call 800-460-5810 or text Aidan at 443-277-2204.How to regenerate a water softener manually
To start a regeneration now on a Fleck 5600SXT, hold the Extra Cycle button for 5 seconds. It is the button on the left, the only one that is not an arrow. Once you hear water flowing, let go.
| What you press | What the softener does |
|---|---|
| Press Extra Cycle once | Regenerates tonight at the regeneration time, 2 AM unless you changed it |
| Press it again before 2 AM | Cancels tonight's regeneration |
| Hold it for 5 seconds | Starts a full regeneration right away |
| Press it during a regeneration | Skips to the next step |
A regeneration you start by hand runs the same full cycle. Let it go through every step.
When to start one: when the softener doesn't seem to be using salt, run one and watch it go through all the steps. That is the first thing I have a caller do. There is no need to run one because an iron filter regenerated. A new softener gets the one regeneration its start-up guide calls for. As I told one new owner, the resin comes charged. After the salt tank ran empty, see Should I manually regenerate my water softener after adding salt?
On a Clack WS1 it is the REGEN button: press and release it for tonight at 2 a.m., or hold it about 3 seconds to start now.
What you set on a Fleck softener
You set three things on a Fleck 5600SXT: the clock, your water's hardness and the softener's size. That is all I have owners set.
| Setting | What to enter | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Time of day | The time right now | Hold Up or Down until TD shows, set the time, press Extra Cycle |
| Hardness (H) | How hard your water is, in grains per gallon, from a lab test | Hold Up and Down together for 5 seconds, then press Extra Cycle to reach H |
| Capacity (the softener's size) | The size you bought: 32,000, 48,000, 64,000 or 80,000 grain | Set the clock to 12:01 PM, press Extra Cycle, then hold Up and Down together |
If you don't have a hardness number yet, the certified well water test reports it in grains per gallon. On city water, use the city water test.
Everything else comes set: the step minutes, the reserve and the 14-day override. In my experience "the settings typically don't ever change." After a power outage the SXT keeps its settings, keeps the time for at least 8 hours, and finishes a regeneration it was in the middle of. The button-by-button steps for every setting are in the Fleck 5600SXT owner's guide.
Signs regeneration is not working
If the salt never goes down, or the water feels hard with salt still in the tank, start a manual regeneration and watch it go through every step. If there is salt in the tank and the water still doesn't feel soft, it could not be backwashing properly. Text me, or work through water softener troubleshooting.
If it regenerates every day or two, see How often a softener should regenerate. If the water tastes salty after it regenerates, see why softened water tastes salty.
Frequently asked questions
Should I manually regenerate my water softener after adding salt?
Only if the brine tank ran completely empty. With no salt in the tank, the last regenerations had nothing to make salt water from. Add the salt, then press Extra Cycle once: the softener regenerates that night at 2 AM, and the salt has hours to dissolve first. If you are only topping off a tank that still had salt in it, there is nothing to do.
How long should a 40 lb bag of salt last in a water softener?
It all depends on water usage. Me personally, I use about one bag every 30 to 45 days. You could use one bag a week or one bag every two months. Buy plain salt pellets: rock salt and solar salt leave a dirty residue in the salt tank. Keep a couple of bags in there, enough that the salt stays higher than the water.
Can a water softener regenerate too much?
Yes, and you pay for it in salt and water. As I told a caller whose softener was barely using salt, that is what you want: "You don't want it backwashing all the time. It'll go through salt and water like crazy." If yours regenerates every day or two, see How often a softener should regenerate.
How do I know if my water softener is regenerating properly?
The salt level goes down over the weeks and the water stays soft. When you start one by hand, the display steps through BW, BD, RR and BF. If the water feels hard with salt in the tank, see Signs regeneration is not working.
How do I get my water softener out of regeneration mode?
Let it finish. It goes back to softening by itself after the brine refill, about an hour and a half after it started. On a Fleck SXT each press of Extra Cycle skips to the next step, but the rinse is what washes the salt water out, so only skip steps if I or a technician ask you to.
Aidan Walsh
Co-owner & Residential Water Treatment Specialist, Mid Atlantic WaterAidan Walsh has spent 32 years in residential water treatment, the first stretch of it installing and servicing well systems before Mid Atlantic Water became an online supplier. Mid Atlantic Water is a family company; every recommendation on this site is based on what actually failed in the field and what fixed it. If you have a question this page did not answer, call 800-460-5810 or text him at 443-277-2204.
Aidan answers calls and texts 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern, every day.Number copied. Text it from your phone: 443-277-2204.