Yes! But here’s the secret: the tank only fills with water right before it regenerates. During regeneration, your softener sucks that water out, mixes it with the salt to make brine, and then flushes it through your system. After that, the tank goes back to being mostly dry and salty.
So if you check it at a random time (anytime that’s not during a regeneration cycle), you should see only a small amount of standing water—maybe two to six inches, depending on your model. If you see more, it might be a stuck float or a leaky valve.
And no, that doesn’t mean your softener is “thirsty.” It’s just being dramatic.
