I flushed my hot water heater over the weekend. Some sediment did come out but I have no idea if it would be considered a lot or a little. That said, this seems to have solved my hard water issues. That night I noticed the shower water seemed much softer and then tested it and it tested 0ppm. I’ll continue to monitor it and see if this resolves my hard water issues long term. I have no idea how flushing the hot water heater solves a hard water issue. I’d be curious to undertand that if someone can explain it. Thanks.

@Jake The Wonderdog, thank you for the information. Good stuff.

1.) I'll look into getting that test kit.

2.) I verified the clock is set correctly and know my regen is happening at 2AM.

3.) Resin...I thought this may be my issue. That said, I've "heard" resin typically lasts a very long time. Ours is 12yo, same a our softener. I've never heard of anyone having to replace there's but I'm not doubting what you are saying and have been wondering if this could be my issue. I've seen a couple videos on YouTube for resin replacement and it doesn't look too difficult. Two add'l questions:

1.) You mention "test the resin by measuring the cold water near the softener right after a regen..." Where should I test the cold water near the softener? Probably obvious but I'm learning all this as I go. My softener is in my unfinished basement. The closest cold water tap would likely be my kitchen sink but I think that's set up to be "hard water" (not hooked to the softener). We have laundry sink and 1/2 bath sink on our main floor. Would those be close enough?

2.) If I need to replace my resin, any recommendations on what to buy? I've never looked for it but assume there's many options. Thanks again for the help.

Resin lifespan depends on a number of things:

-quality of the resin

-chlorine in the water (oxidizing kills the resin)

-iron in the water

-if the unit is oversized - and isn't getting fluidized when it backwashes.

As the resin oxidizes, in particular, it loses its capacity to do ion exchange.

Twelve - fifteen years is a ballpark - your mileage may vary (as they say).

The real test is if your softener continues to provide soft water.

To establish if your softener is still providing soft water, you can test it.

Even some of the worst resin is going to provide soft water right after a regen. The issue is if it can maintain that level until the next regeneration.

If you test it every few days, you should be able to see if the hardness levels are climbing before the next regeneration. I suspect they are.

The point about testing near the softener is so that you are testing what you think you are testing. In other words, flush out the line so you are getting water that's "just been through the softener" and not water that's been sitting in the pipe for a few days.

As far as the type of resin: It once was that Dupont resin from US was the gold standard. You probably aren't going to get that. You are probably going to get no-name imported resin.

If you have city water with chlorine, then 10% crosslinked resin will withstand oxidation from chlorine better than 8%.

Hardness minerals precipitate when exposed to heat. It's no coincidence that coffee pots and water heaters lime up. I think that your softener has been delivering less than "soft" water to the water heater over a period of time, and the heat has precipitated the lime out of the water until it's noticeable. I suspect that fluting the water heater is a temporary fix.

BTW: This is also the time to review all of your settings on your control valve.

If your water hardness coming into the house has changed, it could be that your settings are no longer correct.

Test the hardness level of the water (don't rely on what's published from your provider) and then review the settings on your softener. If the water is more hard, than you could be running out of softening capacity due to the fact that it's no longer set up properly.

If you want to post your settings, as well as your measured hardness level, and tell me how many people in your household - I can review it for you.

That said, I really think the issue is that your resin is old.

@Jake The Wonderdog once again thank you for the great information. I appreciate your time and willingness to help me out. Today I measured the hot and cold water at my kitchen sink and bathroom shower. I let each run 2 minutes before pulling a sample to ensure I was getting "fresh" water from the softener/hot water heater. I haven't gotten a Hack test kit yet but on the test strips I do have all 4 samples clearly measured 250+ppm, putting them in the very hard range. I believe my kitchen sink cold is not hooked to the softener and that sample wasn't any different then the other 3. Last Monday after flushing my hot water heater there's no doubt in my mind that when I took a shower that night the water was WAY better. I sampled the hot shower that night and it tested 0ppm or close to that indicating I was getting very soft water. Last night I noticed it was noticeably hard again and today's test indicates that as well. Based on the regen process and hot water heater flush giving me 1-2 days of soft water then it going back to hard again and all the info you've provided it sounds to me like new resin is my next step. I can buy 1cu. ft of 10% cross-linked resin on Amazon for $115. I've got a 9"x48" softener which says 1 cu. ft. is the right amount.

FWIT, I found this info on my city's website under water quality information: Hardness = 27 grains, Fluoride = .9 ppm, Iron = .05-.10 ppm, Chlorine 0.55ppm. Any other thoughts/comments would be appreciated. THANKS AGAIN!

So, in general, you can't depend on the city's water quality information to be accurate enough to set your water softener. It's often not up to date, or it's an average of multiple supplies.

From what I'm understanding, your test strips stop at 250+ ppm (14.6 gpg) so you can't really get an accurate reading.

when you order the resin (and funnel) also order the Hach 5-B test kit

Then make sure all of your valve settings are correct.

How many people in your household?

Four people in my household. It’s set to regen at 900 gallons of usage. 10lbs of salt. My test strips actually go up to 450ppm. Based on color of samples I've taken we’re definitely >250ppm, likely pushing closer to 450 (nothing between those levels). Hard to tell for sure due to color gradiant but I can tell by the feel of our water it‘s as bad as Ive ever seen it. I ordered 10% cross-linked resin today but it won‘t be delivered till later next week. Thank you.

@seedman76

Assuming the published value of 27 gpg is correct (we shouldn't assume that).

27gpg x 75 gallons per day per person x 4 people = 8100 grains per day

1 CF of resin regenerated with 10# of salt results in a capacity of about 27,000 grains.

27,000 - 10% reserve = 24300 grain capacity.

24300 / 8100 grains per day = 3 days between regens. That's excessive.

I like to size things to regenerate between 5-7 days, and 10 at the most.

A 2 cubic foot unit @ 10# of salt per cf would give you 6 days between regens.

Here's what I would do if I were you:

I'd thank the current water softener for its service - you got 12 years from it.

I'd replace it with a unit that is new - and properly sized.

A Fleck 5600sxt based unit with 2 cf of resin can be purchase ~$650 on Amazon.

"Hard to tell for sure due to color gradient" = this is why you don't use paper test strips.