If you see water in your brine cabinet
If you see water in your brine cabinet, then this is an indication that you do not have enough salt, and the softener will almost certainly be giving you hard water. This is because a softener needs a certain amount of brine water, dependent on the size of the cylinder, to flush the chalk down the drain. If there is less salt than water, and you see salt in the bottom of the cabinet, as shown here, then you do not have enough salt to create a strong enough brine solution to cleanse the cylinder properly. An important role of thumb to follow is to always keep the salt level above the water level. Sometimes, however, A softener can go wrong, and the water level can be abnormally high. When that happens, the softener needs servicing.