How To Check That Your Kinetico Water Softener Is Working?

UPDATED: January 9, 2023

A Kinetico water softener can operate for many years without a hitch. Just remember to make sure to add salt when it runs low and it’s a good idea to have it checked out by a service professional every few years. But in the meantime, how do you know if your Kinetico water softener is working properly?

To make sure that your Kinetico water softener is working correctly, you can test your water to make sure that it is soft, check that your water softener is using salt, and check for hard water stains that would indicate that your Kinetico water softener is not working correctly.

Just because you hear your Kinetico water softener making some noise once in a while does not necessarily mean that you are getting softened water out of it. Here are a few simple things to check to see if your Kinetico water softener is working the way that it should.

You can test your water to see if it is soft.

If you are used to having soft water, you will very likely know right away if your water is no longer soft. Your water will feel rough on your skin and there will be signs that there are hard minerals in your water.

The primary reason that Kinetico uses 2 tanks instead of just one is so that when one tank needs to regenerate, the system will switch over to the other tank which already has regenerated resin in it to continue softening your water.

This means that at no time should you have hard water coming out of your Kinetico water softener providing that it is working correctly.

Occasionally, a Kinetico water softener will get some debris or sediment in its control valve that can cause the valves inside of the control to stick. This can sometimes cause one tank to regenerate correctly but the other will not regenerate, giving you soft water only 50 percent of the time.

The most accurate way to know if your Kinetico water softener is working correctly is to test your water with a water hardness test kit to find out if your water is soft.

Simply testing your water for softness one time will only tell you if your water is soft at that particular time.

To be sure that your Kinetico water softener is providing you with soft water 100% of the time, you need to test your water several times over the course of a week for heavy water usage or longer if you use very little water.

There are other tell-tail signs that will tell you if your Kinetico water softener is working correctly.

Does your water feel silky on your skin?

If your Kinetico water softener is working correctly, your water will feel smooth and silky on your skin. After washing your skin, your finger should glide over your skin smoothly as if there was a layer of oil on your skin because there is one.

You feel this silky smooth feeling over your skin when you have soft water because there are no hard minerals in the water to make it feel rough.

If your skin doesn’t have a silky smooth feeling after you have bathed, then your Kinetico water softener is not softening your water.

Does soap lather well when you wash your hands?

Because a Kinetico water softener is designed to provide you with soft water 100% of the time, soap and shampoo should create a thick and rich lather when you are washing your hands or washing your hair.

If your lather consistency changes from time to time, your Kinetico water softener is probably not working properly.

Does your water taste salty?

A Kinetico water softener requires a good and steady flow of water in order to use the brine from its brine tank to regenerate its water softener resin and then rinse the excess brine (saltwater) away.

Since a Kinetico water softener relies on water pressure to operate, if some debris gets lodged in its valve, the system may not be able to rinse all of the brine away, leaving the water from your Kinetico water softener salty until you use enough water to remove the excess brine from your plumbing.

Using a water pre-filter and changing the filter cartridge often is highly recommended for any Kinetico water softener to prevent debris from getting into the valve which can restrict water flow.

Have you been adding salt to your brine tank lately?

It’s hard to judge if your Kinetico water softener has been using the same amount of salt as it has in the past, but if it is working properly, you should be adding salt to the brine tank on a pretty regular basis.

Since a Kinetico water softener will normally regenerate when it is needed, if the amount of water used in your home doesn’t change, the amount of salt needed for your Kinetico water softener shouldn’t change.

In other words, if you are using the same amount of water but it seems that you have to add more or less salt to your brine tank than you have in the past, your Kinetico water softener may not be working as well as it should.

Your Kinetico water softener uses the salt water (Brine) in its brine tank to regenerate the water softener resin that removes hard minerals from your water.

If your Kinetico water softener does not get a sufficient dose of brine, you may get hard water going through your home. If it gets too much brine, your water could taste salty and you could waste a lot of money on salt that the system really doesn’t need.

Take a look at your faucets and showerheads, do you see spots?

If your Kinetico water softener is working correctly, water that gets left behind on your water fixtures should dry without leaving any hard minerals behind. These hard minerals can leave a cloudy haze on your glasses, dishware, water faucets, showerheads, and anywhere the water settles on a surface.

If you are noticing white residue on your water fixtures, it could be hard water or it could also be excessive salt in your water left by your Kinetico water softener.

If the white residue comes off very easily with just a little water, then your Kinetico water softener is not rinsing away all the brine (salt water) from the system during the regeneration cycle.

Salty water from a Kinetico water softener is often because of poor pressure going into the softener.

If you have a water-sediment pre-filter before your Kinetico water softener (as I highly recommend), it may be clogged and prevent proper water pressure from getting to your Kinetico water softener.

Replace the water pre-filter cartridge with a new one to ensure that your water softener is getting sufficient water pressure and check for any kinks in your water softener drain line to ensure that it is able to discharge the wastewater freely.

If saltwater residue persists after a few weeks, contact your local Kinetico dealer to have a trained technician diagnose the problem.

There could be sticking valves inside of the control valve which may need to be rebuilt which could be just a few hundred to several hundred dollars depending on your location.

Has your Kinetico water softener discharged any water recently?

Just because your Kinetico water softener is regenerating regularly does not necessarily mean that it is working correctly, but if it is not regenerating regularly, it is not softening your water.

Because a Kinetico water softener only regenerates when a pre-set amount of gallons of water have been used, it may be hard to know when it has regenerated.

A Kinetico water softener will regenerate at any time of the day and only when water is used which triggers the regeneration cycle.

This often means that it will regenerate when someone is in the shower, laundry is being done, or even when a toilet is flushed. So catching your Kinetico water softener while it is regenerating to know that it is regenerating can be rather tricky.

If your Kinetico water softener discharges into a slop sink or a drain that you can easily access, you can put a cup or sponge underneath the end of the drain line to see if there is evidence of water coming out of the discharge hose regularly.

If your discharge hose goes behind a wall or other area where you can’t get to the end of it, look for any part of the hose that sags down a bit as there may be some water left in the hose from when the system regenerates.

Push the hose up to empty the sagging area of water and then check it again in a few days to see if there is any new water in it, if there is, your Kinetico water softener should have regenerated.

If you find that your Kinetico water softener is not regenerating and using salt from your salt tank, then it won’t be softening your water.

Is your Kinetico water softener “in service”?

Check that your Kinetico bypass is in the (green) position and not in the bypass (yellow) position if you have a curved, two-handed bypass handle, or make sure that your side-to-side slider bypass is showing the blue side rather than the red side.

If your Kinetico water softener is not bypassed but still is not showing signs that it has been regenerating, call your local Kinetico service professional.

Because a Kinetico water softener control valve is controlled solely by water, the slightest obstruction of water flow or a particle getting lodged in one of its valves can cause problems.

If dirt or debris gets caught in an opening or prevents a valve from opening or closing, your Kinetico water softener may not provide you with soft water, or worse, your Kinetico water softener brine tank could become full of water or even overflow.


The design of a Kinetico water softener is very intricate and complex. I do not recommend trying to fix the control valve of a Kinetico water softener unless you are quite handy and have plenty of time.

A Kinetico water softener should soften your water for many years without needing any major repairs, but it is still a mechanical device that can fail to work properly from time to time.

Be sure to add to your brine tank when needed, and watch for signs that your Kinetico water softener is not working correctly so you can get it working properly before you run into hard water problems.

At some point, all water softeners will need to be replaced.

When your Kinetico is past its prime of 15 years or so, it might be time for you to consider getting a new water softener.

Paul Burkhardt

As a water treatment specialist since 2006, I have helped people with all kinds of water issues. I decided to create this website so I could share some of my experiences and solutions to some of the problems that you may have with the water in your home. And I decided to give it away FOR FREE!

16 thoughts on “How To Check That Your Kinetico Water Softener Is Working?

    1. Hello Brian and thank you for the question.

      To manually start a regeneration on a Kinetico water softener,

      1: locate the X slot in the center of the top of the control valve on the taller of the two tanks.
      2: Insert a #2 Phillips head screwdriver into the X slot and apply downward pressure, you should feel a springy resistance when you push down the X with the screwdriver and it should go down about 1/8 of an inch.
      3: Rotate the screwdriver while pressing down until you feel it make contact with the regeneration activation tab inside of the valve. Continue to turn the screwdriver clockwise to advance the regeneration tab about 6 clicks and then remove the screwdriver.
      4: If your Kinetico water softener regeneration valve is working correctly, the regeneration should continue on its own through the full regeneration cycle and then become silent when the regeneration is complete.

      Repeat steps to regenerate the second tank if necessary.

      I hope this was helpful.
      Paul

  1. good morning paul
    My Kinetico 2020c was working fine until I saw built up of salt which I cleared and since then the salt blocks are not being used up as before please advice
    regards
    chand

    1. Hello Chand Modha and thank you for the question.

      The salt may have built-up because the water softener has stopped metering your water usage and the salt from the brine collected on the walls of the tank. You may want to remove all of the salt from the tank to make sure there is no salt bridge and then add some hot water to help dissolve any salt that may be blocking the brine from being drawn into the water softener.

      Check that the water softener is in the correct “service” mode and then turn on a few sinks or a bath faucet. You should be able to put your ear to the control valve and hear the gears inside spinning. Test your water hardness. If your water is hard coming out of the water softener, you may need to call your local Kinetico service dealer to have the valve cleaned or rebuilt.

      I hope this was helpful.

      Paul

  2. Thank you for the information on the Kinetico water softeners. Our 2030s is no longer drawing brine in one of the two tanks during the brine stage of the regeneration cycle. One tank has a vacuum when the hose is unscrewed to check but the other doesn’t and has water coming out. We’ve taken the unit apart and everything looks fine but the problem persists. One tank draws brine but the other does not. Do you have any idea what could be causing such an issue? Any information would be most appreciated!
    Thanks,
    Natasha

    1. Hello Natasha and thank you for the question.

      There are several valves inside of a Kinetico control valve that all have to work correctly for the system to soften your water. The valves not only divert your water from one tank to another, but they also have separate valves to draw brine for each tank.

      It sounds like your control valve may have to be rebuilt or at least get a thorough cleaning. The brine valve in the control seems to be sticking and not allowing the control to draw brine for the one tank.

      It is also possible that dirt or debris has gotten into the control valve and blocked the hole the draws the brine for the one tank.

      Either way, I would contact your local Kinetico dealer to find out if the valve is still under warranty and try to get them to replace the entire control valve. Other than that, you could take the valve apart (very carefully) and make sure that the valves are opening and closing freely (you can put a little silicone-based lubricant on them) and make sure there is nothing blocking the screens or openings inside of the valve although I would recommend that you have a Kinetico technician do it.

      I hope this was helpful
      Paul

      1. Thank you so much for getting back to me!

        I actually came across a post on the doityourself forum, that described the issue I was having, with a fix. I replaced a drain valve quad ring and it’s now working as it should be. Our warranty ended in August of this year, of course, so I followed some great YouTube videos and was able to do it myself. Thankfully our appliance store, that sold us the unit, let us buy the part.

        I appreciate your response and am very thankful that there are people, like yourself, willing to share information and offer help!

        Natasha

  3. The float assembly in the brine well is unable to be pulled out for inspection. It used to come out very easily. How do I free it up? Thank you !!

    1. Hello Ron and thank you for the question.

      I have found that this is often caused by salt clumping together at the bottom of the brine well.

      Pour a half-gallon or so of hot (but NOT boiling as it could warp the brine float) water down the brine well to dissolve the clumps of salt and then wiggle the float to get it out. Repeat several times if needed.

      I hope this was helpful

      Paul

  4. Hello, My Kinecto water softener makes swooshing sound that lasts about three seconds, every ninety seconds. Seems like it comes out of the top of the control valve , any ideas?

    1. Hello Mr. Smith and thank you for the question.

      It sounds to me like you are hearing a release of water pressure that is getting passed a valve or seal within the control valve.

      The first thing that I would check is if the water pressure going into the system is too high. If you are on a municipal water supply, there could be a pressure regulator valve before your water softener that is no longer working.

      If you are on a private well, make sure that your water pressure tank is not set above about 70 PSI.

      If this all seems to check out fine, you may have a worn valve within the valve that is no longer holding properly and your valve may need to be rebuilt.

      A worn valve may also cause your Kinetico water softener to produce salty-tasting water from time to time.

      I hope this was helpful.

      Paul

  5. My system appears not to automatically initiate the brine regeneration cycle. I find my water getting hard, not silky on the skin but almost rubbery. I can initiate a cycle, the system seems to work, and my water is then soft again, but only for a few days, when I note lack of softened water, initiate a cycle, and again have soft water for a time.
    The system is more than 15 years old, worked fine until recently when i found bacteria in the water. To correct it I shocked my well with chlorine, which fixed the bacteria problem but may have caused this problem.
    Any suggestions for me?
    Thanks,

    1. Hello Nick and thank you for the question.

      I believe that shocking your well may have caused bacteria and other organic material to become suspended in your water which was then drawn into your water softener’s control valve.

      Because a Kinetico water softener control valve operates with delicate gears and impellers which need to move freely, debris or particles that get drawn up from your well can settle inside of the valve causing the moving parts to seize.

      You may not need to replace the water softener but I expect that the control valve needs to be cleaned out which you may be able to do yourself or you could call your local Kinetico service company to have it done by an experienced Kinetico service technician.

      If you ever do anything to your well in the future you should always bypass your water softener.

      I hope this was helpful.

      Paul

  6. I have a white crusty build-up on the exterior of my Kinetico tanks and the catch pan they sit in. What could have caused this?

    1. Hello Howard and thank you for the question.

      The white crust on the outside of your water softener could be salt that has gotten onto the tanks from a leaking fitting or drain line.

      Even a tiny pinhole in the drain line of a water softener can spray a mist of salty water onto the water softener which will later dry up and leave a white crust.

      You might like to take a look and my article “Why is salt on the outside of my water softener

      I hope this was helpful!

      Paul

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